Secrets Origins
by genna12001
Summary: The third part in the Secrets stories. Will the immortals finally find the origins of the immortals. If the truth comes out what will happen. If the truth doesn't come out what will happen. Oh and the Asgard pay a visit.
1. Chapter 01

**Secrets - Origins**

By Genna12001 (Laura Pease)

**Disclaimer**: Stargate SG1 does not and never will belong to me and the same goes with Highlander. I can only live with the dream that one day the could belong to me and if that ever happens then i'll be one happy fan :D

A/N: Ok here's Secrets 3 but it's still getting beted so i'm afriad that i'm only going to be putting one chapter on per week. I'm sorry about this guys but it's better then nothing and i thought that you'd all kill me after i promised it wouldn't be long until i get this story posted.

You may note that the grammer and spelling is a lot better in this story, that's thanks to my new beta James. Everyone say thank you to James, cos if it wasn't for him who knows when you'd get this story and my first beta Claire (still love you Claire :D) doesn't know nothing about highlander and only about Stargate.

Anyway please don't kill me for only putting one chapter on per week because like i said it's better then nothing and i thought you would all like to at least start the story some time this year.

Oh by the way if you like Highlander keep an eye out for my new story that's almost finished (not even been started to be beted yet so any volunteers let me know) and hopefully i will be posting it on the Highlander page of Fanfiction soon, so keep your eyes pealed.

Just a quick reminder for those who haven't read the other Secret stories, i would advise you to read them before you read this as you may start wondering what the hell's going on in places. But for those who don't want too or don't have to time to go back and read Secrets 1 & 2 then hopefully it shouldn't be too complicated.

That's all from me for now and Happy Reading. :D

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**Chapter One**

The smell of stale beer and cigarettes hit him as soon as he opened the door and entered the dark bar. Feeling the buzz of another of their kind, Richie knew that he had found the right place. Scanning the room, he spotted the person he was looking for sitting in a dark corner at the back of the bar at a table, which seemed to be over flowing with empty beer bottles.

He made a beeline for the table and sat down with a sigh. He was glad to finally be getting off his feet. He had been checking out numerous bars, trying to find the man he was looking for. "What are you hiding out in this dump for Adam?"

"Who said anything about hiding… I happen to like the feel of this place…"

"That and I bet they wouldn't stop your beer supply after you've obviously had too much…"

"Yeah well there is that too…"

"You wanna talk about what's on your mind?…"

"No"

"Oh come on Adam… something's obviously been bothering you and it has been for a couple of weeks now… Sam's really worried about you… You haven't so much as said hello to Louise in almost all that length of time when you've bumped in to each other… Then you've gone home every night down right drunk… I'm guessing there's more, but that's all Sam's saying…"

"It's none of your business Richie… So go away…"

"It may not be my business… but I'm your friend… I'm concerned about you… if you carry on this way you'll end up loosing Sam… if I was her I wouldn't have put up with half the crap you've been pulling…"

"Richie just take my advice and stay away from me… just go back to Seacouver… trust me it'll save you from finding out something that really shouldn't have been discovered in the first place…"

"What… you're kidding right… there's no chance in hell I'm leaving Louise… and she's settled here… What's gotten into you?… What's made you go cold towards Sam and Louise…"

Adam had finally had enough by this point and rose from his chair and leaned over the table, planting his hands on the table in front of Richie knocking some in the bottles onto the floor where they shattered. Richie couldn't help but notice that Adam's face was almost turning red from anger.

"You know nothing… NOTHING about it… so do us all a favour and keep your nose out of it Richie… just go back to Louise or even better go back to the boy scout… I'm sure he's missing you already," with that Adam turned around and marched out of the bar leaving a rather stunned Richie sat watching his retreating form.

Adam stormed down the street still fuming about Richie trying to stick his nose in where it clearly wasn't wanted. What did he know anyway? How would he feel having just found out that your entire existence was just some bug science project by an alien race?

Then he had also found out about Sam and Jack being Louise's biological parents. Was the Asgard truly to blame for all his problems? Or was it Sam and Jack's fault even if they had no option, hell they didn't even know apparently.

How was he meant to feel?

Then again he hadn't been about to tell Sam that he knew the truth about Louise.

All of a sudden it hit him, here he was feeling sorry for himself at finding out some home truths about Sam and he never spared a second thought about Sam.

How was she coping with this?

She couldn't even tell her own daughter who her biological parents were. Hell, Louise wouldn't likely believe her if she had tried. Nobody would believe with such a close age barrier.

How could someone so young have a baby after all?

Louise may be Sam and Jack's biological daughter but they could never show her the love she deserved and so desperately needed. They would have to watch from afar as she lived her life, find love, all the time watching her call someone else mum and dad.

How was she managing to be so close but yet so far from her?

Then, to add to all her worries, I'm acting like a spoilt brat, feeling betrayed because of something she had no say about.

Realising he had to put things right but at the same time not wanting to do so in his present drunken state of mind, Adam decided he would head home and straight into bed. He would discuss with Sam why he had been acting like an idiot when he woke up in the morning, refreshed and free of the drunken haze.

Putting the phone back down on its cradle, Sam sighed in frustration. She had just finished talking to Richie. The young immortal had let her know he hadn't managed to find out what was bothering Adam once he had found him. He also informed her that Adam might be in a bad mood when he finally arrived home.

She just couldn't understand it; Adam had been in a terrible mood for a little over two weeks now. Every time she approached him, whether it was just for a cuddle or to let him know she was there for him, he would just push her away.

It was starting to be too much for her, especially with her being pregnant and having mood swings. When Richie had come by earlier that day to see Adam; he had noticed something out of character about him, she had broken down and cried for almost half an hour on his shoulder.

She was afraid to tell him her worst fears that continuously ran through her mind. Was he just disgusted by her appearance and that she was the size of a beach ball?

She tried to clear her mind of those thoughts but they kept sneaking their way back in. She tried to rationalise that she was only at the point in her pregnancy that she felt fat and she'd soon get over it. The nagging thought kept creeping in, though, saying it was going to get far worse before it got better.

Even after she had the baby, her body would not be the same as it had been before. She would be able to tone up, but, according to Janet, her body would never be completely way that she had been before.

Was that really the real reason Adam didn't seem to want to be near her?

Was it really the fact that she was fat that disgusted him so much?

The warm trail of tears started down her face and no matter how hard she tried to fight them back, she couldn't. In almost no time at all she gave in and let out a pained sob, realising what was really happening.

It wasn't until strong arms wrapped around her that she realised Adam had come home and for the first time in weeks she sunk into his embrace and let the tears fall while Adam's gentle voice soothed her.

As her tears died away and the gentle caress of sleep claimed her, Sam could have sworn she heard his gentle voice saying two simple words over and over again. "I'm sorry."

Adam woke just as the first rays of sunlight were sneaking their way into the room through the open curtains. The warmth of Sam's body still pressed against his side comforting him from within.

He didn't want to get up as he was feeling as much comfort from her presence as she was feeling, still consumed by the peacefulness of sleep. He moved his hand so that it was resting on the bump that was now clearly showing through ninety percent of the clothes she wore.

There was movement under his hand but for a second it didn't register what it was until it happened for a second time. It was then that he realised that it was the baby kicking. A smile crept on to his face at the thought of the life he'd helped create. Pulling gently out of Sam's arms he made sure she was still sleeping before he bent down placing a gentle kiss onto her swollen belly.

"Hey little guy… stop kicking or you'll wake mummy up!"

"Too late" Sam's quiet, sleep drenched voice pulled his attention from her stomach.

"Morning" Adam said sheepishly while sitting back up.

"Morning…"

"How are you feeling this morning?"

"OK I guess…" She paused for a second not knowing whether to broach the subject she knew needed resolving as soon as possible. Knowing that it needed to be done she made the decision. "Adam… what brought on this change… Richie called before you came in last night saying he'd spoken to you but it didn't seem to change anything… why did you suddenly come home and… well… be able to stand to be close to me again?"

"It wasn't that I couldn't stand to be close to you Sam… I've just had a few things on my mind… let's talk… then maybe we can sort everything out and get back to normal…"

"Since when has either of our lives been normal?…"

"Good point… ok then back to as normal as our lives are…"

"What's on your mind?…"

"A couple of weeks ago… I came home early to surprise you… when I got here I found you and Jack talking… I was just going to turn around and let you talk, thinking it was about work but then… well I over heard you talking about Louise and that the two of you are her biological parents… Then I just couldn't pull myself away… I had to find out how…"

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I guess… well it just shocked me… then there was the origins of Immortals thing and I guess I just felt overwhelmed and… I don't know, I just felt betrayed… and I guess slightly rejected."

"Adam you understand that although me and Jack are Louise's biological parent… we never… I mean…"

"It's alright Sam I know it was through the Asgard using your DNA without your permission… hell even before you knew the Asgard existed… you have to understand though that it wasn't just that… I've lived five thousand years not knowing where I truly came from, then only to find out I really never had any parents at all I was just the result of some alien science project…"

"Oh god… I'm so sorry Adam… I just didn't think of it like that… I just thought that it was what you'd wanted… to find out where you truly came from…"

"I know… that's what I realised last night on my way home… Richie did make me think… and I realised a lot of things… I realised I was hurting you over something you had no control over… We've both made mistakes and hurt the other without realising it until it was too late… All we can do is say sorry and try and move past it…"

Sam nodded her agreement and moved to once again cuddle up against Adam. He accepted the cuddle and wrapped his arms around her shoulders giving over as much comfort as and she wanted.

**TBC**

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A/N: Hope you liked and i will put the next chapter up on Monday, and i once again say sorry about the lenght of time between post but hopefully if all goes well with the bete that should speed up. 


	2. Chapter 02

**Chapter Two**

A small, grey, three-foot tall figure walked slowly over the metallic surface of the research lab, which was based on the Asgard ship Bifrost in orbit of Earth. There were all together about ten Asgard working at various control consoles throughout the room. All of them were at monitoring stations which processed sensors readings, calibrated to search for different anomalies. It was Mani's job to monitor the researchers overall workload, making sure they didn't miss anything of vital importance, which could help in their plight.

Mani continued his slow paced walk over to his control console in the centre of the room. Once there, he set straight to work checking over all the different sensor readings. The readings were continually changing as the new information was filtered through from the relevant researchers.

He had been working for a little over three Earth hours when Mani spotted something. He moved one of the egg shaped controls to rewind the sensor readout. When he had found what had caught his interest, he once again changed the settings for that particular sensor relay and refined his search.

There it was, right in front of his big black eyes, the possible answer to their countless millennium long puzzle. Without missing a beat Mani turned around to face another console and once again began moving egg shaped controls around until he had managed to achieve his goal of activating the long-range communications.

"Commander Thor… this is Head Researcher Mani of the research vessel Bifrost orbiting Earth… I require your assistance" spoke the almost childlike voice to thin air.

Minutes later a small screen changed and the face of Thor, Supreme Commander of the Asgard fleet appeared. "You requested my assistance Mani… What is it that you require my assistance with?"

"We have found something commander which I feel you would be interested in pursuing as soon as possible."

"I am unable to get to Earth at this moment as my vessel is in the middle of a battle with the Replicators… Send me everything you think that I would require and I will go through your findings…"

With that the small screen went blank and Mani set about doing as Thor asked.

"We have to tell Hammond." Adam implored

"What! Are you nuts? You said yourself you didn't want to tell him unless it was absolutely necessary!" Jack's voice rose above the general noise of the room at Adam's comment. Janet and Sam stopped their own discussion and looked toward Jack and Adam to see what the problem was.

"It's the only way we're going to be able to approach the Asgard with our suspicions… and Hammond's not going to let me into the SGC unless I already know about the Stargate."

"But still… are you nuts?"

Sam piped up at this point. "Sir, I've got to agree with Adam on this one. The General would rather lock Adam up than let him back into the mountain. General Hammond doesn't know about Adam's knowledge concerning the Stargate and the Goa'uld… let alone the Asgard. Also, if we talk to the General and he agrees to let us confront the Asgard, I think Adam should be involved, what with him being the oldest immortal and all…"

"What about Janet? She's immortal and she's already in on the Stargate; so we wouldn't have to let Hammond in on Adam!" Jack's protest rang through the room, but he was the only one that seemed to be against Adam getting introduced to the SGC.

"Yes, sir, but I still think we need to keep Janet's immortality a secret as long as possible. General Hammond wouldn't make anything of the situation, more than likely, but what if he did? Just think if it got out that there are immortals in the world, the Trust would have a field day…"

"Ok, but that could happen with them knowing about Adam…"

"I agree, but it's better having them think there's only one immortal then having them know about the whole lot of them…"

"OK… so, what exactly are we going to tell Hammond then… Are we just going to walk in to his office in the morning and say, 'Hey General, you're never going to believe this but we've discovered immortals living among us, but hey, don't worry, they're not aliens; well, at least not much. We think that the Asgard may have had a part in this, though, so could we possibly contact Thor and find out…' I really don't think that's going to work."

"What about the Watcher? There's bound to be a Watcher inside the Mountain; otherwise how would they be able to keep an eye on Janet as she's mostly on base?"

Jack groaned. "What, or who, are the Watchers?" Jack rose an exasperated, yet questioning, eyebrow at Janet.

Janet took on the air of a tour guide. "Watchers… they're a group of people who watch and record the lives of immortals. Basically, they record who killed who and so on."

"Ok then, now that we've got that sorted out, it just adds some more twists to this, already, sucky plan. First, we don't know the identity of Janet's Watcher. And, second, how would we explain a Watcher inside the mountain without telling the General about Janet?" Jack threw back at Adam.

Adam looked perturbed, mostly at himself. "I must be slipping in my old age…"

"Well, we need to come up with an idea before tomorrow morning if you want to tell Hammond."

"Well, you could always have Adam break in again, that way Hammond would more than likely have Adam brought to him so he could deal with him personally."

All heads turned toward Janet, whose face was turning slightly red from all the attention she was suddenly receiving.

"What! It was just an idea!" Janet could feel the heat rising to her cheeks. No matter how long she lived, she had always hated being the centre of attention.

"That could work, actually," Adam thought out loud.

"Come on Adam, I was only joking! You're not seriously thinking about breaking into the mountain again? Hammond's likely to throw you into the deepest hole he could find and forget you ever existed! By the time you get out you could be six thousand years old!"

"Yeah, but I've got you lot to make sure that if he does; you'll come and find me and get me out, before I turn six thousand, right?"

When nobody answered him, Adam looked around at the small group with a look of disappointment on his face. When still nobody replied, he rose from the sofa, which he had been sharing with Sam and just stood staring in disbelief at his friends and lover.

"I can't believe this! We've finally got a plan that could work and you're all bailing on me! Janet, you can't tell me that you don't want to know where immortals really come from. And Sam, you're carrying my child, which I should never have been able to father for God's sake!"

Adam started pacing the room, trying to come up with another plan that the group would be more agreeable to, but nothing came to mind. After a few minutes of being unsuccessful he sighed and retook his seat on the sofa.

"There are not just the immortals to think about here. There's also the Asgard. Immortals aren't meant to have children, but here I am, expecting to be a Dad in a few months. If we let the Asgard know this then they'll be able the check the baby's DNA out and hopefully solve their cloning problem. Just imagine, if we do this for the Asgard maybe they'll do something for us. Maybe they'll give other immortals the ability to have children. Janet, haven't you always wanted to have children? Maybe they'd even be willing to hand some technology over to help out in your continuing battle against the Goa'uld."

"I wouldn't hold my breath on that last one, but enough with the speeches. We'll give Janet's idea a go, but if Hammond's pissed don't blame me…" Jack said getting to his feet. "I'm going to go order some take out as it looks like it's going to be a long night of planning." With that, Jack left the room, heading into the hallway to call the take out place.

Watchers Report on Janetta a.k.a. Doctor Janet Fraiser.

Like always, Janetta has been working her usual long hours and, as a result, has not been challenged by any immortals for a few months.

There does appear to be some other immortals interacting with her, as of late, but there has never been any challenges. It turns out her friend and colleague, Samantha Carter, has a new boyfriend who is associated with a couple of immortals: -

MacLoed, Duncan

Ryan, Richard

Although Duncan MacLoed has now returned to Seacouver, where his file states he lives, Richard Ryan, it seems, has started a romantic relationship with another of Janetta's colleagues, one Louise Robinson.

Something is causing Janetta an unusual amount of stress. I believe that whatever it is must be immortal related as her workload has not increased. A further indication of the possible immortal source is her word to me that her home life with Cassandra is as good as ever. This was volunteered, by her, when I enquired as to her young charge.

I will make my observations more intense for the next few weeks to try and work out what the immortal problem could be that is troubling her.

My next report will be forwarded to you within the next month, as usual.

Watcher GH

The Watcher finished off his report and quickly e-mailed a copy of it to the Head of the Watchers for North America. Once the e-mail had been sent successfully he shut down his computer.

Leaning back into his chair he thought about all the new people, immortal or mortal, that were starting to get their lives intermingled with his charge and her friends.

He could never know for certain whether things were going to get better or worse as time went on but he could always hope for the best. No matter what, though, he found himself unsettled by something he couldn't control.

He was a Watcher and his job as such was to watch and record but never interfere, but how could he not interfere? Janetta had become as much his friend as anyone within the SGC. One thing he had discovered working within the confines of Cheyenne Mountain was that it was like having one big family.

Shaking himself, he told himself that he couldn't get personally involved because with him being her watcher he had to keep a distance.

He had always heard rumours going around the Watchers that there was one Watcher who had broken that rule on more than one occasion. What was his name again… oh yes Joseph Dawson, Watcher for Duncan MacLeod. What a coincidence.

Thinking of Joseph Dawson brought to mind another rumour going around, one that stated he was protecting an immortal that was impersonating a watcher. What was his name, Alan, no, Alex, no not that either… oh yes that what it was Adam… Adam Pierson.

Stopping mid thought it hit him there and then that there was a possibility of another immortal within the small group on Janetta's new-found friends. That would have to be another thing he would have to check out.

But not tonight. Tonight he was going to go home and get some rest, it had been a long week and rest was what he so desperately needed.

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A/N: - Thanks for the reviews people.

Lauren: - Thanks for the review and hopefully you'll enjoy this story as much as you like the other two maybe even better :D.

Shawn Provoncha: - If you think this is a great start just keep reading and you'll hopefully like it better.

Once again i would like to say sorry about only putting one chapter up per week but like i said before it's better then nothing. Hope you like and please review.


	3. Chapter 03

**Chapter Three**

Adam paced the front room of his and Sam's house waiting for the time they'd agreed for him to head up to the mountain to make his next attempt at breaking and entering. This time though it was his intention to get caught. Just the thought of putting himself in this much danger voluntarily was making every nerve in his body scream for him to get out before it was too late. The only problem was, it was already too late, the plan had been set and the others were all set, he couldn't just walk out on them now.

The clock on the mantelpiece ticked loudly in the quiet room as Adam tried to quell his nerves. Sam and the others had headed off to the mountain at 0640 hours that morning and they'd all agreed that Adam would break in at 0930 hours.

There was no particular reason that time was chosen other than it would give their small group the time needed to get to work and settled in before all hell broke lose.

The thoughts of how Hammond was going to respond to him breaking into the mountain for the second time within a matter of a few weeks were beyond his usual hellish nightmares. Something was different with this though, this was the origins of the immortal race and hopefully the survival of another race. It was something he had to do, no matter how much he wanted to run.

The weight on his shoulders was almost overwhelming but he knew it was something that had to be done. There were too many lives at stake for him to just turn around and run, keeping his own head safe.

This was finding out where he came from.

This was finding out why he existed.

This was basically finding out the meaning of life for him and the other immortals.

At least he had the support of Sam. He knew he loved her with all his heart and he also knew he could lose her, whether it was because he would get incarcerated for the rest of her natural life or for another unforeseen outcome.

The dinging of the clock indicated that it was now 0900 hours, which made Adam jump for a second before realising what it was. Once he had calmed himself he reached for his coat and headed for the front door.

The beep of her watch sounded into the quiet of her lab, letting Sam know it was 0900 hours. Sam sat starring at the report that she had been writing for the past hour. Although she had been doing the report for that long she had only managed to write the first paragraph. All her thoughts were on Adam and what he must be going through at this present moment in time.

In about half an hour Adam would make his first move to breaking into the mountain. Sam, Jack and Janet put their heads together to come up with the best way for Adam to get down to the twenty-eighth level undetected, since the way he had used before could not be used again. Once on level twenty-eight he would make a subtle, yet revealing error to make his presence known. Janet would make sure that the General would be found by Colonel O'Neill first.

At the time Carter had been confident, but now she wasn't so sure. What would she do if Hammond didn't believe them about immortals?

Would she have to deal with raising a child without the father?

Would Hammond truly 'throw him into the deepest hole possible and forget he ever existed' as Jack so plainly put it?

Could she really live with that on her conscious?

She knew she would have the help and support of her friends when the baby arrived, but what would happen if their child is an Immortal, like Adam? Would she be able to deal with raising a child who she would have to protect from head-hunters until they were old enough to protect themselves?

Would she be able to let her child out of her sight for even a second for the fear of them being in danger?

Would Janet and Adam's immortal friends help protect her and the baby, or would she be out there in a world of unknown enemies without someone to watch her six?

Janet had just finished the post medical for the members of SG-5 when she had finally managed to look at her watch. She noticed it was 0913 hours, almost time for Adam to make his move. For all she knew he could be up there on the outside of the mountain getting to the location where he was going to break in. It was show-time!

Janet breathed out a sigh of relief. Finally, something for her to do. She made her way into her office and picked up her phone to call the General away from his office on some pretence of showing him her latest results on one of her many projects.

Jack had ordered her to stay out of the 'festivities' until they were willing to reveal her own immortality, but that didn't stop her from being useful in making sure things went the way the Colonel wanted them too. Besides, she only had to distract the General until Jack called her to inform her that Adam had been caught.

It didn't take much to convince the General to come to the infirmary. He had been in early to get some paperwork done and he had needed a break. Janet set about getting her notes together for her 'presentation'.

A gentle knock on the doorframe broke into her thoughts. 'My, the general made good time,' she thought as she looked up. However, instead of the general, she saw one of her male nurses standing in the doorway. Gordon Hayes had always been extremely quiet with her, although, she knew that when he was with the other nurses, he was the life of the party.

She had always wondered if it was something that she had said or done to him when he first arrived that made him so nervous around her but it was just one of those things that she would more than likely never find out.

"Yes, Gordon, what can I help you with?"

"Ma'am, we've got Lieutenant Mayes from SG-8 complaining of a headache but I can't find any possible physical cause… I just need your authorisation to send him down for a CAT scan"

"Fine, give me the form and I'll sign it off," Janet curtly replied. Gordon efficiently entered the office and placed the form on her desk. Janet signed her name and wasn't surprised when Gordon picked the form back off the desk and quickly rushed out of the office as fast as humanly possible, nearly running over the top of the general.

He made a hasty apology to his commander and chief and fled into the main infirmary.

The general entered into her office with a questioning look on his face. Janet shrugged and shook her head.

"What have you got for me, Dr. Fraiser?"

The gentle beeps of his Gameboy filled the office, but Jack's attention was elsewhere. His attention was on the clock that ticked quietly on the wall above the door. The second hand was just leaving twelve making it a few seconds past 0928 hours.

The beeping of the Gameboy stopped as Jack turned it off and placed it into his top draw, which also housed his yo-yo, and other assorted toys that were there to alleviate his boredom when called for.

He rose from his chair and walked around his desk, leaving his office to head down to the control room where they'd all agreed he would be stationed for the beginning of this operation.

The control room would be the first place security would call in their efforts to locate General Hammond, once they couldn't find him in his office. When they called there Jack would volunteer to inform Hammond of the intruder.

It wasn't long after leaving his office that Jack arrived in the Control Room and as he looked up at the clock on the wall it was just leaving 0932 hours.

Spotting Walter at one of the computers he walked over and sat down in the seat next to him. "How are things going, Walter?"

Not noticing Jack at first, Walter jumped at Jack's sudden words but was quick enough pulled himself together so that Jack hardly noticed.

"Errr… good sir… only SG-3 and SG-5 are off world at the moment so we're pretty quiet."

"What a shame… and here I was hoping for a bit of excitement after being stuck in my office since 0700 hours…"

"Sorry I couldn't have been of more assistance sir…"

"Don't worry about it Walter… it was a pretty weak hope anyway…"

"I won't sir…"

The sharp sound of a phone ringing interrupted their conversation and Jack casually reached over and picked it up like it was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Control Room… O'Neill speaking."

"Colonel O'Neill… this is Sergeant Marsh sir… Is General Hammond there?"

"No Sergeant, but I know where he is… What's it regarding?…"

"It's that intruder we had a few weeks ago… errr Adam Pierson… Well sir we've caught him again… this time down on level 28…"

"Keep him there, Sergeant… I'll inform Hammond… no doubt he'll want to deal with this himself this time…"

"Yes sir"

Placing the phone back onto its cradle Jack turned to Walter and shook his head. "Looks like I got that bit of excitement after all."

Jack left the control room and went to the briefing room to call Janet.

The phone rang in Janet's office. Janet smiled apologetically at the general. He waved his approval.

"Dr. Fraiser speaking."

"Janet, the pigeon has come to roost."

"Right, how silly of me to forget. I'll be right there." Janet hung up the phone and made her apologies to the general. "I'm sorry sir, there is, er…something I totally forgot about and need to take care of. If you will excuse me?"

"Of course, Dr."

Less than five minutes later she was heading back to her office, brooding.

She knew that there were lives at stake here, but not just any lives; it was the lives of her fellow immortals, as well as the Asgard. It was hard for her to just sit on the sidelines waiting to be called into the game.

She made her way into her office and sat down heavily on her chair, placing her elbows on the desk and her head in her hands.

How could she have possibly agreed to this?

Was she pulling one of Adam's old tricks and looking out for her own neck rather than helping out her friends.

Jack waited for about five minutes for the general to get back to his office. He made a circuitous route to the general's office and knocked on the open door.

Hammond was typing away on his laptop when a knock on his open door interrupted him. Looking up he saw a grim faced Colonel standing there.

"Yes Colonel…"

"Sir… it appears that Adam Pierson has broken into the mountain again… I'm guessing you would like to speak to him yourself this time, sir…"

Hammond sighed, he had a feeling deep down that told him that there was more going on here than met the eye. The way the Colonel was acting was only enhancing the feeling as well.

"Yes, I think I will speak with Mr. Pierson. Bring him up to the Briefing room, but before you go get him please also tell the rest of SG-1 and Doctor Fraiser that they're to attend as well. I think it's time for a meeting."

Giving Hammond a puzzled look Jack didn't know how to react to that statement. They'd expected him to bring Sam in on the meeting and the possibility of him bringing the rest of SG-1, but what possible reason could he have for bringing Janet in on the meeting?

"Sir, if you don't mind me asking, why Doc Fraiser? I can understand the rest of SG-1. I just can't understand why you'd want to bring the Doc in on this?"

"You'll find out soon enough Colonel. Just inform them there's a meeting in ten minutes. Dismissed!"

"Yes, Sir!" With that Jack turned and left the office to go inform the relevant people of what was sure to be the weirdest meeting ever. Well, maybe not the weirdest but surly one of the weirdest.

Entering the infirmary, Jack looked around for Janet but didn't see her anywhere within the sterile environment of the infirmary. He was just about to turn around to try the cafeteria where they'd all agreed to meet up after the meeting, when a young nurse got his attention.

"Sir, if you're looking for Doctor Fraiser she's in her office."

"Thank you, Lieutenant." Jack made his way quickly to Janet's office.

Knocking on the door Jack noticed that he had startled Janet from her thinking. She looked around and saw who it was standing in the doorway and looked at him for a moment in silence with a puzzled look on her face.

"Jack, I thought you'd be with Hammond by now?"

"Yeah, well we're having a meeting in a few minutes with SG-1 and Adam, but he wants you there as well…"

"He… Why would he want me there? You don't think he's found out about us arranging for Adam to break in?"

"I don't know. Why don't you head up to the briefing room and I'll see you there after I've got everyone else."

"Ok, and Jack, if this doesn't go as planned I'm sorry. I know your doing this more for my sake rather the Adams's so… I just want to apologise now, just in case."

"There's nothing to apologise for Janet" Jack gave her a reassuring smile then turned and walked out of the office.

* * *

A/N: - Sorry for the delay people but there was something wrong with and it wouldn't let me log in.

Shawn Provoncha: - Glad your still liking it. Hope you liked this chapter.

Come on people where are all those review i generally get, (ok so i don't get that many but still i like reviews :(... )


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Janet sat in the silence of the briefing room waiting for the others to appear. She could see Hammond in his office organising some files, which she assumed he would be using during the meeting.

The door to the briefing room opened and Sam, Daniel and Teal'c all entered; all nodding as way of greeting to Janet. Janet noticed that Sam looked almost nervous, which she could understand. Then once the three of them were seated the door once again opened, this time Adam was led in followed closely by a SF and Jack.

Sam looked on slightly unnerved at seeing Adam in restrains, no matter she knew the possibility of it happening was high it still didn't feel right.

The SF was told to remove the restraints from Adam, which he complied with then quickly left the room closing the door behind him.

"Take a seat Adam," Jack said while taking a seat by Daniel.

Looking at the people seated around the room Adam decided he'd rather sit next to Sam instead of sitting next to the scary looking Jaffa that was seated on the opposite side of Sam.

Hammond entered the room and without saying a word sat in his usual spot at the end of the table. Looking up at the group he noticed that the only people present that looked puzzled were Daniel and Teal'c. Teal'c's look wasn't as puzzled but it did have a raised eyebrow. The rest looked nervous, even Jack's features were betraying his feelings for once.

Adam's blank look could rival any experienced black ops personnel.  
"Right then, let's get this meeting started. From the looks on all but Daniel and Teal'c faces, all present realise why Mr Pierson is present here this morning."

"Sir?" Jack, Sam and Janet all stated at the same time.

Hammond held up a hand to stop their protests before they could continue. "Please, I haven't made it to be General by being that naïve. I know there's something going on here that you didn't feel you could come right out and tell me about. Now here's your chance. The people in this room you all know are trustworthy, but I must state that anything discussed in this room is to stay in this room." Hammond picked up two folders and stood up from his chair.

Walking around the table, Hammond stood beside Adam and placed one of the folders in front of him. "Mr. Pierson, these are non-disclosure forms which I need for you to sign before this meeting can go any further."

Adam nodded and opened the folder to scan the pages enclosed. He wanted to make sure what he was signing was truly what Hammond said it was. Satisfied, he dated it and signed it Adam Pierson on the last page. He closed the folder back up and handed it back to Hammond's waiting hand.

Hammond handed the next folder to Adam. "This, I believe, you will understand more than anyone else present in the room, so if you would like to explain I'd be grateful."

Jack glanced quickly at Janet with a questioning look, while Adam looked at Sam questionably. Sam not knowing what was going on either quickly shrugged in response. Daniel's and Teal'c's looked even more confused then when they first saw Adam enter the room.

Adam once again nodded and waited as Hammond retook his seat at the end of the table before opening the folder. Looking at the contents of the folder Adam was shocked by what he saw.

"What is it?" Sam asked, wondering what had caused Adam's shocked state.

"It's… It's bit's of Janet's Watcher files."

"It's my what?" Janet stood up from the table and rounded on Adam, snatching the folder out of his hands.

"Sir?" Jack asked with a puzzled expression. Why Hammond would have Janet's Watcher file?

"Colonel' I'm sure Adam's explained to you about the Watchers."

"Yes, he has, but we never thought you'd be her Watcher!"

"Then I guess I've been doing a good job haven't I?"

Jack opened his mouth, ready to say something else, but couldn't think of anything to say so he just as quickly closed it. He looked over at Janet as she read through parts of her Watcher files.

"Errr… not to sound dumb or anything but, what are Watchers? Why would Janet have a Watcher file? And, how come Hammond's her Watcher?" Daniel asked, as he looked puzzled at the group hoping for answers.

"You remember when Sam first got pregnant? Well we forgot to mention one little fact…"

But before Janet could continue Adam cut her off. "Janet, no!"

"But, I thought we were going to tell…"

"Things have changed now. He's the Watcher, and he obviously knows who I am."

"Oh… for once in your life will you please just stop hiding!" Janet couldn't help the bitterness that showed in her voice.

"Mr. Pierson, if you are referring to the fact that you are immortal, you do not have to worry, I have already worked that much out. As to how Sam's managing to conceive your child; I would have to say it's the first instance I've heard of an immortal having a child. As far as the Watchers were concerned, immortals couldn't bear children."

"Yeah, you know that I'm immortal, big deal, there's only one other Watcher that knows that detail, and to be honest I really don't want it to be spread around. As for the children part, that's because we usually can't have children."

"I understand and you have my assurance that the council won't find out about your immortality. I just have one question though. How old are you?"

"Like my immortality there's only the one Watcher that knows that and that's one thing I'm not willing to discuss."

"Ok, but as I said before I've worked out that your immortal. It's also given me time to think and review some information that I've observed and other information I've received through Watchers. Mostly hearsay but I believe the reason your hiding the fact your immortal is that you're old, and I'm not talking about a couple of centuries old I'm talking about a couple millennium old."

"And what brings you to that conclusion?"

"Well, first, being a Watcher, I was trained in spotting the age of immortals. I've also picked up a few of my own ways of telling the age of immortals throughout the years. I can tell your old. Older than Janet. That means you're one of the few old ones that's left. How am I doing so far?"

"You've got my attention."

"Second, when you were with the Watchers you were head of the Methos chronicles. Now with you being immortal there's only a few things that would interest you in those particular chronicles. You're either out for his head, but you don't seem to be that kind of person, trying to find out if the myth is true; just for some kind of peace of mind but with you being old you should know if he exists or not so that can't be the reason. Or, my personal favourite, is you're actually Methos and you were trying to cover your tracks by making out you were actually looking for yourself when you were truly there all along."

"Yeah, right, as if I'm really Methos. Would you truly believe that I could have survived five thousand years?"

"From what I've observed, yes, I truly believe that you could and I believe you are Methos. Why else would Joseph Dawson keep your immortally a secret if you were just another ordinary old one? Truth is he wouldn't, no matter how much of a friend you are to him. He'd only ever do that for Methos."

"And how do you know that for certain?"

"Because, I'm also a friend of Joe's. But just like Joe, you don't have to worry about me informing the Watchers about who you really are."

"Why would you do that?"

"Because I know that if that little piece of information got out you'd have head hunters queuing up for you around the block ten times."

"And you know that that would endanger Sam's life too much wouldn't it?"

"Yes, it would, but that's not the only reason. I don't want five thousands years of knowledge to go to waste. There's too much for us to learn from you to just let some head strong head hunter come take your head for the power."

"What, like one thousand and one reasons not to re-open the god damn Stargate? Not including the Goa'uld…"

"So, you already know about the Stargate then?"

"Yes, thank you very much, and I know about the Goa'uld as it was Ra that caused my first death."

"Ok. Well, if you already know about the Stargate and the Goa'uld, is that why you have broken into the SGC on two separate occasions?"

"No. I think we should get settled, this could turn into a long explanation."

"Agreed. People, please could you all re-take your seats?"

Once again everyone got settled back down at the table and Adam looked over at Janet wanting to know if she wanted to begin or not.

Janet caught the look and thought that because she was there she may as well start the medical explanation. "Well, sir, I may as well start from the beginning…"

With that the meeting got off to a good start. Janet explained how she believed Sam's distinct body chemistry was the reason she was able to conceive Adam's baby. And, how they believed the Asgard were actually involved in the creation of immortals.

At that point Hammond found it slightly hard to believe that the Asgard had truly created immortals. It sounded like something they would have on the Twilight Zone. To this, Janet explained about Louise being immortal and she had found Asgard DNA in Louise's blood just like in hers and Adams.

Hammond sat back in his chair and thought over all the information he'd been given. When he leaned forward onto the desk he told Jack to ask the SF waiting outside the door to bring Louise up.

"Sir, you're not going to tell her about…" Jack looked over at Sam to make sure she didn't mind Adam over hearing the next part, at which she nodded letting him know that he should continue. "About me and Sam being her biological parents."

"No son, I'll leave that up to you and Sam, although it would make the explanation a lot easier to understand with that piece of information. If you would like to discuss this between yourselves feel free to use my office."

"Thank you sir! Err, sir, I think Adam should be in on this conversation as well as she is part of his life too, with him getting married to Carter and all."

"Agreed."

With that, Jack rose from the table and went to the door; quickly instructing the SF to retrieve Louise from Daniel's office and to bring her to the briefing room. That done, Sam, Jack and Adam retreated to Hammond's Office.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Being the last to enter Hammond's office Jack closed the door and turned to face the worried looks that graced Sam and Adam's faces.

"So," Jack thought out loud, "what we are we going to tell her?"

"The truth will be a good start I should think!"

Jack's face gave a very impressive imitation for a bulldog sucking a lemon. "Smart ass! That's the obvious answer! Gee, I'm less than a century old and I had already knew that was a given. I was thinking about HOW to actually break it to her!"

"Will you two stop acting like two year olds!" Sam gave them a look that told them they had better not respond out loud. Both glared at each one last time and then gave her their undivided attention. "Right, at least we're agreed on one thing, we're going to tell her the truth about Jack and I being her biological parents. The thing is how are we going to break it to her without her totally freaking out?"

Adam waited a beat, making sure he had leave to speak. Sam rolled her eyes at him. Adam smiled and spoke. "I would have to say the best thing to do in situations like this is to just tell her the way that feels right at the time."

"Okey dokey then. That's what we'll do, but please, Adam, could you let me or Sam handle this?" Jack asked, slight concern cracking through in his voice.

Grudgingly, Adam had to concur. "Of course, I know I'm part of Sam's life and everything but this... this is something that belongs to the two of you. I know that you didn't actually do anything. Hell, you didn't even know Louise existed until a few weeks ago but I know it should be one of you two to tell her."

Contritely, Jack agreed. "Thank you."

"Nothing to thank me for Jack! It's just the way that it's meant to be."

"Ok then, well let's get this over with!"

Jack turned around and opened the office door and walked back into the briefing room. Sam looked over at Adam and couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face.

"What's the smile for?"

"Nothing, I'm just wondering how I ended up with someone so supportive."

"Yeah, well I've been wondering why I've suddenly turned so supportive."

"Funny!"

"I thought so!"

Shaking her head Sam left Hammond's office with Adam close behind her. Just as they were entering the briefing room the other door opened and Louise entered the room.

"Err… you wanted me to come to this meeting sir?"

"Yes, thank you Louise. Please take a seat and we'll explain everything to you."

"Yes, sir." Louise followed Hammond's request and took a seat next to Adam who had re-taken his seat. Looking over at him she gave him a 'what's going on here look' but Adam just turned away from her unable and unwilling to explain things to her.

"I think I should start, sir."

"Go right ahead, Colonel."

"Right, where to start."

"Well, it maybe a good place to start from the beginning and the reason why I'm here?" "Good idea! Let's go with that!" Sam rolled her eyes in a very besiged manner while Jack tried hard to think of a way to tell her. He opened his mouth several times, but nothing was coming out and his usual defence mechanism of sarcasm looked like it was going to assert itself.

"Sir, if I may."

"Sure, go right ahead Carter! I can't think of how to, so please, go right ahead."

"Ok, Louise can you remember when we came to find you in England? We said we were looking for you because we thought you'd have the potential to be a value to the SGC."

"Yeah, I remember."

"Well, we may not have told you the entire truth there."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"We got word from the Asgard stating there may be someone we would want to find. About a year ago we had a run in with an Asgard called Loki. Loki cloned Colonel O'Neill so the Asgard scientist could run some test on the real O'Neill. But things kind of went wrong. The clone only matured to about sixteen years of age, so when it, er... he tried to replace the real O'Neill both the clone and the rest of the SGC spotted the difference right away. "We managed to get the real O'Neill back and the Asgard apprehended Loki. Since then the Asgard have been going through Loki's database and they found out that about twenty five years ago Loki did an experiment on a couple of individuals who later became part of the SGC and created a child. This child has their DNA and some Asgard DNA."

"So, what you're trying to say is you were looking for me! I'm that child you're talking about, but how can that be?"

"Yes, you're the child I'm talking about and as for the how... just bear with us here, we'll get to that bit in a second."

"Ok, so, forget about the how for now. What you're really trying to say is that my biological parents are in the SGC."

"Yes!"

"And would they be in the SGC right now?"

Sam and Jack looked at each other then Sam looked at Adam to try and get a bit of reassurance from him. When he nodded she smiled back and turned back to Louise.

"Yes they're in the SGC right now. In fact they're right in this room. Louise what I'm trying to say is that the Asgard informed us that Loki used Colonel O'Neill's DNA and mine to create you!"

"You and the Colonel?"

Sam found her throat closing up and she couldn't find the words to speak. All she managed to do was nod her head in agreement.

"And you didn't know about any of this until a few weeks ago when the Asgard informed you of their findings from Loki's ship."

Sam nodded. Jack reached over and gave Sam's hand an encouraging squeeze. He still didn't know what to say, and sure as hell hoped that Sam would be able to pull it together before Adam said anything. She didn't disappoint him. "Louise, I knew from the first moment I saw you that you were someone special and that you would one day be a good friend. Even without knowing that you share our DNA, I would like to think that we would have eventually become good friends with you."

"So why are you suddenly telling me this now?"

"Because, if it wasn't for you, the mystery of where immortals come from would never have been solved."

"I don't get it, how?"

"You're immortal but we know who your biological parents are! The only thing different about you is that you have Asgard DNA, so we had Janet run a DNA test on herself and it came back the same as yours! Janet has Asgard DNA as well, and I'm willing to bet that if we test any other immortal the test would be the same, too!"

"So, what you're trying to say is that the Asgard have been creating immortals for a couple of millennium."

"That's exactly what we're saying!"

Louise looked perplexed. "No offence to anyone in this room who isn't immortal apart from you Sam and Jack, but why are you suddenly saying something now to a room full of people who don't know about immortals!"

"Because we need their help!"

"Why?"

"We need to contact the Asgard and let them know what we've found out, maybe we'll be able to help them too."

"How can we help them?"

Janet cut in, knowing it would be easier for her to answer the medical details better than anybody else. "The Asgard have been using cloning technology for thousands of years as their way of reproduction. Now, they can't reproduce naturally. We believe that the key to their survival may come from Adam and Sam's baby."

"So what's the plan?"

"We contact the Asgard, inform them of what we've found out and see what they say. I am sure they will want to know what has become of Loki's experiments and then we will see if we're also right about the rest of it. If we are, then Sam and Adam's baby could help save the Asgard."

"Is that it?"

"It's all we've got. Sir, what do you think?" Janet turned to Hammond to find out his opinion on their idea.

"I agree Doctor, it's the best plan we've got and as far as I can see it's the best plan we're going to be able the come up with. Major, you take Daniel and see if you can contact the Asgard. Colonel, could you take 'Adam' here and get him ready to contact the Asgard with yourself. Doctor, you get all the information needed ready for when the Asgard get here. Louise, I think you need some time to think over all the information given to you here. I know it's a shock so why don't you have the rest of the afternoon off. Teal'c, please assist Colonel O'Neill. That's all, dismissed."

There was a chorus of 'yes sirs' then everyone left the briefing room to see to their separate tasks.

* * *

A/N:- Thanks for all the reviews people I promise i will mention all the people who reviewed when i next upload a chapter but i haven´t got access to my reviews at the moment as i´m on holiday. Be glad that your getting this chapter as a friend is uploading it for me (Thanks Claire/sg1girl2002). 

Hope your enjoying and please keep reviewing i like to know what your all thinking.


	6. Chapter 06

**Chapter Six**

Louise walked casually back to Daniel's office to collect her bag so that she could head home. Hammond was right; she was a bit overwhelmed by all that she had been told.

First, there was the fact that she had always wanted to know who her biological parents were. Of course, once she found out that she was an immortal, she had thought that dream would never come true.

Then, there was the possibility that the Asgard might have created immortals, which was strange to say the least. Knowing that little grey aliens were the reason you were alive, the reason you couldn't die, and the reason you couldn't have children.

To top it all off, your biological mother and an immortal friend could help save the entire said alien race just because they're having a baby, which should never have been possible.

She had been told on joining the SGC that she should expect the unexpected but this… this was beyond anything she would have classed unexpected. Way beyond.

Turning a corner she realised she had reached Daniel's office without even realising that she had walked that far. She shook off the doubt that was clouding her mind and walked into the office going straight to her desk, which was the only clear surface in the entire office.

Taking a seat at her desk she quickly set the computer to shut down then reached under the desk to retrieve her bag. Once she was all set to leave she got up from her desk and exited the office; locking the door on her way out, as she didn't know when Daniel would have the chance to get back to his office.

The journey home was quick and uneventful, as it wasn't rush hour. She entered the cottage only to find it empty. As she moved through the house she noticed the smell of fresh coffee which indicated that Richie more than likely wasn't far from the cottage.

Putting her bag on the coffee table she walked over to the dining table, taking off her coat and throwing it over the back of one of the chairs. She walked to the back door and opened it to see Richie just reappearing from the tree line.

Richie's face turned puzzled at seeing her standing at the door to the cottage. "Louise? What are you doing back this early?" he asked walking up to her.

"Got let out a little early, they told me some interesting things and the General thought it would be best if I came home to try and think things through. I think he was worried I'd break one of Daniel's rocks or something."

"What did they tell you that made them think you'd need the rest of the day off to think about it?"

"They told me they know who my biological parents are…"

"But… How can they know? Your immortal! Immortals have never found out who there biological parents are!"

"I know. Since I found out I was immortal and Kenver told me all about immortals; I just accepted the fact I'd never find out who my biological parents were. I know who they are now and if I was to be one hundred percent truthful I'd have to say I have no idea how I'm meant to feel. I want to feel happy, but I can't. I want to feel angry, but I can't. I want to feel sad and once again I can't. I'm just… I don't know… confused!"

"So are you going to contact your biological parents then?"

"I don't need to, they contacted me. Well, to be truthful, this may sound crazy to you but they didn't know about me until a few weeks ago. As soon as they found out, though, they came looking for me."

"How could they not know about you? Yeah, I can understand if your biological father didn't know, but your…? Unless I missed something in biology at school how is possible that your biological mother didn't know about you?"

"Because she didn't carry me. It's complicated and I can't explain it at the moment. That's what makes it so confusing. Like I said, it's a strange story but it's true, if there was any doubt in my mind Janet's got the DNA test to prove it, but there's no doubt. I don't understand it fully myself but it just feels right."

"I don't understand what's happening, but if you need to talk about anything. No matter how cryptic, I'm here for you." Richie reached out and pulled her in to a hug; trying to give her as much comfort as possible.

"I know and I'm grateful for that," her muffled voice replied.

"So, what exactly should I expect when…well, when the Asgard get here?"

"Well, what usually happens is we get beamed to a space ship unexpectedly by a little grey alien with big black eyes. Then I usually lose track of anything that's going on unless it's Thor that's beamed me up to battle against the Replicators again!"

"Replicators?"

"Long story, short version - mechanical bugs that want to take over the universe."

"Right!"

"Ok, you all set?"

"Yeah, well I guess as set as I'll ever be."

"Well, it'll have to do."

Just then the door to the locker room opened and Sam and Daniel entered. "Sir, we've managed to get a hold of Thor. Unfortunately, he's unable to get to Earth for a few hours, Replicator issues again. Anyway he said there's another Asgard ship near by that will be able to beam you up so you'll be able to use their communication systems to speak to him before he arrives or you could just wait for him to arrive and speak to him directly."

"I think we need to get this over with before anything else happens so we'll go to the other ship and talk to him over the communicators until he arrives."

"Ok then. He said that anyone who wants to go should be in the Gateroom in thirty minutes."

"Let's go talk to Hammond and see if he wants to send any others up apart from Adam and me."

"Yes, Sir."

Turning around, Sam exited the locker room and everyone else followed her lead back to the briefing room. They retook their seats and were joined by Teal'c while Jack went and knocked on Hammond's office door. Hammond indicated that it would be a moment before he could come out. Jack used that opportunity to take his usual seat at the briefing table. Seconds later the General entered in from his office and sat down.

"Is it all set?"

"Yes, sir. Thor's not able to get to Earth for a few hours but there's another Asgard ship in the area so we're going to get beamed to that ship and communicate to Thor with their communication systems until he arrives."

"That's fine then. When and where are you getting beamed from?"

"In about fifteen minutes from the Gateroom. I recommend everyone not planning on getting beamed up leave the Gateroom."

"I agree. See to it. Colonel, you and Adam make your way to the Gateroom. Major, would you please tell Doctor Fraiser to get all the information she's been able to gather and join Colonel O'Neill and Mr. Pierson in the Gateroom."

"Yes, sir" Sam stood up from her seat and quickly exited the room knowing she had to get Janet quick if they were to meet the deadline for the beam out.

With Sam gone Hammond looked at the others and then dismissed them. Jack and Adam made their way down to the Gateroom while Hammond, Daniel and Teal'c made their way to the Control Room to watch there friends disappear in a flash of white light.

The small group watched from the Control Room as the blast door opened slowly and Janet was admitted carrying a laptop under her arm. The blast doors closed again as Janet walked up to greet Jack and Adam.

Moments later, Sam appeared by Daniel's side and she focused her attention in to the Gateroom where her lover and two friends were stood waiting to be beamed to an alien ship. The thought struck her that if she was to actually say that out loud to someone who didn't know about the Stargate program they probably would have thought her crazy.

A few minutes passed in silence as the group waited for their friends to disappear so when they finally did nobody was surprised. Daniel went to turn to Sam to give his friend a supportive smile, what he saw surprised him.

Instead of being greeted by a worried woman he was greeted by thin air. Sam had disappeared and he was guessing that when the flash of light took Jack, Adam and Janet it also took Sam for some reason.

The first thing Jack saw when he re-materialised above the Asgard ship was two, although fully clothed, still entangled people he least expected to see. Taking his eyes off the two entangled people he looked around once again spotting someone else that shouldn't have been there.

"OK. What the hell is going on here?" Jack shouted at the top of his voice but there didn't seem to any reply other than Louise and Richie breaking apart from their passionate kiss and Sam who grinned at the annoyance in Jack's voice.

Jack turned to Adam and in a sarcastic voice continued. "See what I mean about it always takes me by surprise?"

Adam tried to hide the smile that appeared on his face by looking over at Louise and Richie only to find the smile didn't disappear but increased in size instead once he caught the look of confusion on Richie's face.

"What the hell is going on? And how the hell did we get here, wherever here is?" Richie asked as he looked around the metallic room in shock, but he almost dropped with shock as he looked behind him and out of a window to see Earth.

Just the there was a swishing sound of a door opening in steeped a three foot tall alien.

"Greetings and welcome aboard The Bifrost!"


	7. Chapter 07

**Chapter Seven**

Richie turned around when the resident Asgard entered the room. Adam noticed Richie's confused face pale several shades making him look almost ghost-like.

"Would someone PLEASE explain why I seem to be standing on some kind of space ship which is, by the looks of it, orbiting the Earth with little grey people, aliens, or whatever, is on board?"

"Not right now!" O'Neill shot Richie a 'be quiet look' then turned back to the Asgard. "Hi, Colonel O'Neill nice to meet you."

"Mani, Head…"

Before he could continue, Jack cut him off. "Nice to meet you, Mani! But what I REALLY want to know is this? WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE PLAYING AT?"

Several members of the assembled representatives of Earth winced at the volume the Colonel could produce. They also knew that he wasn't done yet.

"THOR TOLD US ONLY THE GATEROOM! WHAT PART ONLY DIDN'T YOU GET! Carter sure as hell wasn't in the Gateroom! Louise and…" Jack waved his hand in Richie's direction not knowing his name.

"Richie!" came a chorus of voices.

"…thank you…Richie weren't even in the mountain! Hell! Richie has never even been in the mountain!"

Mani calmly looked at O'Neill and blinked once before replying. "Commander Thor was reviewing some information supplied to him by myself after he was in contact with yourself, he was unable to re-establish contact with yourselves so he asked myself to bring up a few extra people at the same time as I brought you up."

Jack spun around and eyed Carter. "Just wait until I get my hands on that scrawny little grey neck of his!" Jack mumbled under his breath in her direction. Carter gave him a pleading look. Jack sighed and then shook his annoyance off and looked back at Mani. "I need to contact Thor immediately."

"As you wish. If you step on the platform over there I will connect you to him." Mani pointed to the far end of the room as he walked over to a control panel.

Jack did as he was instructed and walked over to the small platform and stepped up onto it. At the control panel, Mani moved a few egg shaped controls and O'Neill started talking to what appeared to be thin air to everyone else in the room.

"What's going on? And why is he talking to himself?" Richie whispered to Louise as they stood watching O'Neill.

"I don't know. I've never seen anything like this before." Louise whispered back just as puzzled as Richie was.

"He's communicating with Thor." Sam cut in over hearing their whispered conversation. "Think of it as a hologram of Colonel O'Neill's which is being transmitted to Thor and Thor's end of the transmission is being directed directly into Colonel O'Neill's brain because he's standing on that platform."

"That's, Errr…?"

"…Weird?" Richie finished for Louise.

Jack stepped off the platform and shouted over to Janet, "Hey doc, he needs the technobabble! Well medibabble… oh it doesn't matter it's all nonsense to me. Just get on the platform!"

"Yes, sir." Janet stepped onto the platform taking Jack's place in communicating with Thor.

"Right." Jack was glad someone was listening to him. He turned to flesh and blood Asgardian to see if he would have any better luck. "Mani, would you care to explain why you have brought Louise, Carter and Richie here? Thor didn't want to discuss that little matter with me until he got here. I, on the other hand, want answers NOW!"

"I think it would be best if we do as Thor suggested and await his arrival." Mani suggested as he moved back one step. It was the only external indication of his reaction to O'Neill's temper.

"I SAID I WANT ANSWERS NOW and by God I'm going to get answers NOW!"

Everyone spun to look at the two. O'Neill looked like he was at his limit. Mani took another step back away from O'Neill. "Very well, Major Carter was brought here because we believe that her child could hold the key to our survival. Louise has been brought here, as Thor would like to meet the child of Major Carter and yourself. I am afraid I was unable to bring Louise here without bringing her companion up as well, so I brought them both up."

Richie turned to Louise and whispered, "Sam and Jack are your biological parents?"

Louise just nodded her head in response and went back to listening to the conversation between Jack and Mani.

"And it never occurred to you to wait until Louise was alone before bringing her here?"

"Waiting is always an option. The Asgard are a patient race, however, given the urgency of the circumstances I am afraid that waiting would not have been acceptable. Based on the data we have gathered on your species, it was unlikely that Louise and Richie would have become sufficiently separated anytime soon. Therefore, it was prudent to bring them both."

"Great, so you beam him up here and leave us to deal with the whole 'He's not meant to know you exist' problem?"

"I agree that Richie knowing of our existence is unfortunate but it was unavoidable."

"No, it wasn't unavoidable. You just had to go and be impatient!"

Mani just blinked his eyes. He was about to speak when a beep sounded from the console behind him.

A puzzled Janet suddenly turned around and stepped off of the platform.

"It just turned off!"

"That is because Commander Thor's ship has arrived."

"But, I thought he was going to be a couple of hours?"

A flash of white light appeared and quickly disappeared, leaving Thor standing in front of the group.

"Greetings, O'Neill, it is good to see you again. As it is nice to see you again as well, Major Carter."

"Thor, about Carter being here. Why did you have Mani over here beam her up?" Jack was going to keep asking the question until he got an answer he liked.

"I believed it was necessary. When you contacted me I had just received the information from Mani but I had been unable to review it. However, when I did finally review the information I found some data worth investigating. I asked Mani to bring Major Carter up at the same time as you. I also requested your 'offspring' to be brought up as well. I wanted to meet her." Thor then looked at the group of people gathered around the room and looked back with a slightly puzzled look on his face, although none of the humans noticed the difference, "I am familiar with Doctor Fraiser but I am afraid I do not know the other two men whom you have brought."

"That's the thing Thor; yeah, we brought Adam up, as we needed to discuss something with you about his, um, heritage." Thor just blinked at O'Neill, so he continued. "Well, you see Adam is an immortal, as is Janet and Louise. Janet can explain that. Anyway back to the matter at hand, Richie coming up here was not our idea. Mani brought him up when he brought Louise up."

"That is unfortunate."

Mani bowed slightly toward Thor. "I thought it was necessary, given the circumstances."

Jack raised an eyebrow at the little grey alien. "Yeah, right. You can say that as often as you want, but I'm never going to buy it. Anyway, Janet, why don't you sum up for Thor and the rest why we contacted him."

"Yes sir!" Janet proceeded to explain their reason for contacting the Asgard. Thor thanked the doctor and turned toward Jack.

"O'Neill, you said that Adam is immortal?"

"That's right. Why?"

"I would like to scan Adam and see if you are correct."

Adam wasn't thrilled with the prospect of being poked and prodded again. Janet was bad enough and he knew what she was using. "Wait! Hold it one second! Since when did I volunteer to be pin cushion!"

Carter placed a gentle hand on her lover's arm. "It's not physically invasive at all, sweetheart. It's more like Star Trek's tricorder, They will scan you with…"

Jack could feel another technobabble coming on. "CARTER!"

Carter looked chagrined and ended with something less technical. "…pretty lights and no pain."

Adam grinned "Ok…" Adam turned to Richie once again. Seeing that Richie seemed to have calmed down slightly, he thought he would play with him a little. "…but Richie has to do it to, because he's also immortal."

"Gee, thanks, Old Man!"

Thor nodded and turned towards Mani. "Maybe it would be best to scan everyone. That way there should be no more surprises and we will have an updated scan of Colonel O'Neill."

"I didn't know you cared, Thor, old buddy!"

"Your continued health and welfare are always a concern of the Asgard, O'Neill."

Mani turned and adjusted several egg shaped controls on a nearby consol. A few moments passed in silence as Mani finished up the scans.

When the scans were complete Mani looked and confirmed what all of the human's thought, apart from Richie who still didn't know what was actually happening. "The presence of Asgard DNA is present in the ones called Adam, Richie, Major Carter, Doctor Fraiser and Louise."

"How has Carter got Asgard DNA? She's not immortal."

"The baby, Jack!" Adam shot back, unable to believe Jack couldn't have worked that out.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that."

"That would explain Mani's sensor readings." Thor cut into their discussion.

"What do you mean Thor?"

"As I was explaining before, Mani sent me some information to look at. The information was readings taken of Major Carter and her child. After the information you have given us regarding Adam's immortality I believe that is the reason."

"So we were right in assuming that the baby could help you?"

"I believe you were correct, O'Neill. Although I would like to run some more tests run to make sure."

"Hold up. Before you start talking about tests, none of these tests are going to hurt Sam or the baby are they?" Adam defensively took a step closer to Sam so that he was stood between the Asgard and her.

"Major Carter and her child will remain unharmed. All the tests will be done by scanning only."

"Good…" Adam relaxed slightly although he didn't move from where he was standing guard in front of Sam. "One other thing. While discussing the information we concluded that the presence of Asgard DNA might be the reason why immortals are unable to have children. Could that be the case? If it were, would there be anything you could do about that? I mean help other immortals so they would have the choice of whether to have children or not."

"Once again, I would require one of the present immortals to run some tests on. If the test results from Major Carter's child are positive I believe it shouldn't be a problem to help immortals solve their fertility issues as well." Thor confirmed.

"So, your saying that it's possible?"

"Indeed."

"Adam?" Richie voice broke into Adam's thoughts.

"Just give me a second, Richie. I'll explain everything to you in a minute!" Adam said as he turned to Richie.

Turning back to Thor he continued. "Thor, we'd also like to know if the Asgard race has been creating children with Asgard DNA and leaving them on Earth. There are not just a few immortals, there are and have been thousands throughout the ages. We need to know where we come from and if the Asgard are responsible. Did the Asgard create immortals?"

"I do not have any knowledge of that, but we will check through Loki's ship's database once again. We have only checked his most recent activity, going only back a few of your decades. We will do a more thorough search of his past experiments. It may bring up something that looked unimportant before this issue was raised. I would assume if Loki created Louise then it would have been possible for him to have created other immortals."

"Thank you Thor, anything you could do would be greatly appreciated."

Thor didn't respond with words, he just blinked his eyes and turned back to Mani. "Mani, please take Major Carter and do the necessary tests." He then turned to the three older immortals. "Adam, Richie or Janet, which of you would volunteer for some further tests?"

"Richie, could you go? I'd like to speak with O'Neill about a few things."

"What, I don't even know what's going on? Why do I have to go?"

"You don't need to know what's going on to let them do some tests."

"Fine, but you owe me some extremely big explanations."

"We'll see."

"No. No 'we'll see's', I want answers. No matter what it takes I will get answers. For God's sake, Adam! I've just been beamed to an alien space ship in orbit above the Earth, of course I want explanations."

Adam rolled his eyes, "Fine!"

"Good!"

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A/N: - Thanks for the reviews people and keep them coming as you know how much i like reviews. :D


	8. Chapter 08

**Chapter Eight**

The group watched as Sam and Richie were led away by the small grey form of Mani then looked back at Thor. When Thor didn't speak the small group of humans started talking amongst themselves.

Adam brought up the subject that was on most of the SGC employee's minds. "Jack, I don't think Richie's going to take no for an answer! I think we really need to let him know what's going on."

"I was afraid you were going to say that. OK, who wants to get beamed back down with me to explain all this to what's going to be a very unhappy Hammond."

"I really need to stay up here, sir, to go over the DNA test results with Thor, of course." Janet quickly spoke up.

"I think it would be best if I stayed up here as well." was Adam's response.

"I'll go with you as there doesn't seem to be that much for me to do up here. Plus, it's kind of creepy up here, anyway." Louise volunteered.

"Ok. Thor, buddy, would you be so kind as…" The group never heard the end of that sentence as there was a blinding white light and Jack and Louise were gone.

"Does he do that a lot?" Adam enquired.

Janet looked at Adam with a sly grin. "What? You mean beaming Jack away when he's half way through a sentence. Yes! You should have seen the time it happened at Sam's promotion ceremony. I think he almost gave Hammond a heart attack that day."

"What did Hammond do?"

"Put the whole base on alert. We had no idea who had taken the Colonel or anything, until a hologram of Jack appeared in the briefing room. Kind of like the communication system we just used, anyway it turned out Thor needed Jack's help with a slight Replicator problem."

"How did he solve the, err, problem as you put it?"

"He asked Hammond to have a lot of ammo and stuff ready to be beamed up. Told the rest of SG1 to stay planet side in case there was a chance that he couldn't return from the ship. SG1 decided they wanted to visit Thor even after Jack's protests so they got beamed up along with the ammo. Anyway they ended up having to burn the ship up on re-entry."

"So, how did they get off the ship then?"

"They beamed the Stargate up and dialled out from the ship once they set their plan into motion."

"I don't really know that much about this kind of thing but wouldn't the Stargate have burnt up on re-entry as well? And, yet, it's still there in the Gateroom!"

"Yeah, that's what we thought too, but lucky for us we had a second Stargate in storage. Another long story, but the short version is that Sam and Jack found a Stargate in Antarctica by accident, it took them about a week to set up the second Stargate and once that was done SG1 was able to dial in and return home."

Adam just shook his head to clear the mental fog that was gathering. "Riiighht…remind me never to ask a simple question about the SGC again as they seem like complicated answers."

Janet couldn't help but laugh at that knowing he was more than likely right in ninety percent of the cases. "You know, you're probably right about that."

"…to beam us back to the SGC." Jack looked around and noticed that he was now standing in the middle of the Gateroom with Louise at his side. "I hate it when he does that!"

Hammond, who had been in the Control Room to notice their arrival, walked over to the microphone to talk to Jack. "Colonel O'Neill, I didn't expect you back this soon."

"Yeah, well we seem to have a slight problem."

General Hammond resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Ok, Briefing Room!"

"Yes Sir!" Jack turned to Louise noticing the nervous look on her face. "Come on let's get to the briefing room and don't look so nervous, there was nothing you could do to stop this happening."

"I could have not been clinging on to Richie like there was no tomorrow."

"Well there is that, but you had no way of knowing Uncle Thor wanted you to pay a visit."

"Uncle Thor? Since when has Thor been Uncle Thor?"

"Since you found out I was your 'Dad'. And you DO have Asgard DNA."

"Yeah, Asgard DNA. That doesn't mean we're related!"

"No, but it IS Asgard DNA." Jack said raising his eyebrows.

"Right!" Louise sighed and continued to follow Jack to the briefing room.

Once in the briefing room Louise and Jack both took seats at the table where Hammond was already seated in his usual chair.

"What were you saying about a problem, Colonel?"

"Well, I'm guessing you've realised by now that when Mani, Thor's pick up guy, beamed us up to the Head Research Vessel for the Asgard, he also beamed up Carter!"

"We guessed that Major Carter had been beamed up with yourself, Adam and Doctor Fraiser. I'm guessing with Louise being here that she was also beamed up also?"

"Yes sir, and…Richie."

"Richie?" Hammond asked although he already suspected who they were talking about.

"Richie, Louise's boyfriend. It turns out Thor wanted to meet the child of the Great O'Neill and Carter and asked Mani to beam her up at the same time as he beamed us up. When the time came, Louise was being comforted as she was slightly upset by everything she was informed about today. Mani didn't feel it was necessary to wait till Louise was on her own so he beamed them both up."

"I'm hoping that this Richie is still on the Asgard ship and has not been beamed back down to wherever he was before he got beamed up. I think we'd better have a quick word with him."

"Yes sir, he's playing guinea pig with Carter for Mani at the moment!"

"When this Mani has finished with him, get Thor to beam Richie down here, to the briefing room and not the Gateroom, Colonel. We'll get him to sign the non-disclosure form and have a talk with him. Hopefully he'll understand why we need to keep it a secret."

"Yes sir."

"Right. Then contact Thor again and get him to beam you up there so you can continue to monitor the Immortal situation. Louise, it's up to you whether you stick around here or head back home."

"Well, I'd like to head home just to lock up the cottage as we didn't exactly have time to lock up, but then I'd like to come back here and wait for Richie to get back."

"Ok. Colonel, arrange for someone to take Louise home. Would you like to be brought back or would you prefer to drive back yourself Louise?"

"I'll drive myself back, if that's all right General?"

"That's fine. Colonel?"

"Yes sir I'll see to it before contacting Thor."

The General gave a brief nod of approval. "Dismissed."

They all rose from their seats, Hammond headed to his office while Jack and Louise headed to the Control Room.

"So what exactly do these tests require?"

"I will be scanning your cellular structure at the lowest level. All I require you to do is to lay down for about thirty of your Earth minutes," Mani replied as they entered a small advance laboratory looking room, which made Sam's, eyes brighten with excitement as she looked around the room at all the possible new toys to play with.

"If one of you would like to lie down on that table in the centre of the room," Mani pointed to the table in the centre of the room with some kind of panel above it as he walked across to the control panel to the right of the door.

"I'll go first, Sam," Richie offered. If there was any possibility of these tests causing any harm he would feel better if it happened to him. At least he had his immortal healing to help if anything did happen.

"Ok, I think I'll just have a look around the room while you're being the lab rat."

"Thanks!" Richie mumbled as he creased his forehead. He did not like the term lab rat. It struck a negative chord with regard to his feelings on authorities and authority figures. He crossed over to the table and laid down on it as Mani had requested him to do.

After a few minutes the lights on the panel above the table came on as Mani set the scanners.

Sam started to circle the room glancing at all the doohickies scattered around the room but didn't touch anything, afraid of invalidating Mani's tests or maybe even hurting Richie. These consoles were very different from the Command console.

Richie lay there trying not to move a muscle in case he screwed the scan up and had to start over. He just listened to Sam's footfalls as she moved around the room and the occasional beep from somewhere in the room.

Gentle snores broke the intermittent silence of the room. Sam stopped her continuing journey to look over at Richie. She couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face. She mused on how tired he must be to manage to fall asleep on an alien space ship. She was used to the Asgard, but it was still weird at times. How Richie must be feeling about the whole situation must be overwhelming!

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A/N: - Sorry for the delay to getting this chapter to you both me and my beta are trying our best but his wife is about to or already had a baby so there may be some slight delays. Hopefully tho it shouldn't take long for the next chapter to be posted.

Thanks for all the reviews again and please keep them coming.


	9. Chapter 09

**Chapter Nine**

Adam, Janet, Jack and Thor came into the research lab to find Richie still laid down on the table in the centre of the room, sound asleep. Sam had taken a seat on a slight step near where Mani was working on the control console at the right of the door.

"Is it my imagination of is Richie asleep?"

"It's not your imagination, sir. He must have been beat; he hadn't lain down for more than two minutes before he conked out."

"I finished with the scans sometime ago. I thought if he was that tired it would be best to let him rest." Mani turned away from his readings to look at the group as they'd entered.

Adam shook his head and walked over to the centre of the room and started nudging Richie in the shoulder.

Richie's sleep fogged mind didn't realise what was happening at first and tried to just bat away the irritation, but it refused to go away instead increasing it's attack with more force. Trying a different approach he rolled away from the annoying attack only to find himself falling a few feet onto the hard floor.

"Owww!"

"Serves you right! I can't believe you fell asleep on an alien ship! What has MacLeod been teaching you? You let your guard down in an alien environment, literally!"

"What? Oh yeah, alien ship and test!"

"Yeah, alien ship and test and can't forget falling asleep during said test! What's the matter Louise keeping you up too late?"

"None of your God damn business!" "Adam, now is not the time!" "Hey! Do you mind! 'Parent' here!" were the responses of Richie, Sam and Jack, while Janet couldn't help but snigger at the comments that were flying around the room.

"What? I was just stating the obvious!"

"Sure you were." Richie mumbled finally managing to lift himself fully from the floor.

"Whatever! So, Mani, you finished with Richie here?" Adam asked turning back to the little grey alien.

"I have completed all of the tests that I require at this time."

"Good. Come on Richie, Thor's going to beam us back down, so you'll finally be able to get some answers."

"It's about time!"

"Doc, stay up here with Sam, get Thor or Mani to call us if there's any problems. I've got to go back with these two but I should be back with Adam after the briefing." Jack instructed.

"Yes, Sir!"

Jack nodded at Janet then turned around and left the room this time only followed by Adam and Richie.

Once the door to the room closed Mani turned to Sam and instructed her to lie down on the same table Richie had vacated moments ago. Befor Sam managed to lie down though Janet managed to find something to prop her up slightly with.

When she was finished seeing to Sam, Janet joined Mani at the control console and looked over at what Mani was doing. Unfortunately, she was unable to translate what was being displayed on the screen as it was in Asgard so she turned and watched Sam as her eyes scanned the small bit of room she could see.

Jack, Adam and Richie all beamed into an empty briefing room. Jack looked around for any sign of Hammond, while Adam watched Richie look around with curiosity. Hammond noticed the flash of light in his peripheral vision and guessed it would be Jack with Richie so he exited his office and entered the briefing room.

"Sir! This is Richie!"

"Richie…?"

"Ryan, Richard Ryan, but everyone calls me Richie."

"Well Mr Ryan. Please take a seat."

"Yes, Sir."

Adam couldn't hide the smirk that graced his face, as he couldn't recall another occasion when Richie had acted so obedient before. Normally, Richie had always had a bit of a rebel in him, which came from feeling unwanted after getting moved from foster home to foster home through out his childhood.

Hammond cut into Adam's thoughts after noticing the grin on the Immortal's face. "Mr. Pierson, if you could kindly bring yourself back down to earth and take a seat."

"Sure." Adam did as Hammond requested and took a seat at the large briefing table although his smirk clearly stayed where it was, which, in turn, made Richie more annoyed with him.

Once they were all seated Hammond handed one of the folders that had already been placed on the table in front of Richie. "That's a non-disclosure form, could you please sign that before we continue."

Richie opened the folder and scanned though the pages making sure that it was just what Hammond had said it was. Once he decided it was indeed just that, he picked up a pen that Jack had thrown his way and quickly signed in the appropriate part then handed the folder back to Hammond and the pen back to Jack.

"Thank you. Now as you may have noticed the United Stated is in contact with aliens. The ones you've met today are called Asgard."

"But they're good guys' right? They're not like the ones in the movies? In other words, are they evil man eating monsters?" Richie couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face as he thought he'd made a joke but soon sobered as he saw the straight faces of the others.

"Don't tell me I'm right!"

"More or less. There's another race that we are at war with. They are little snake-like parasites that take over people as hosts. They are known as the Goa'uld."

"You're kidding."

Jack shook his head. "'fraid not. Oh yeah, they like to pretend to be gods."

"And 'THOR' doesn't pretend to be a god?" Richie said emphasising the name Thor, as he knew that Thor was a name of a god although he couldn't put his finger on what belief system.

"I never said that, but at least they're the good guys and they're not trying to take over the universe." Jack looked like he was warming up to his favourite subject.

Richie just shook his head and threw up his hands in the air. "Whatever!"

Hammond cut in to stop Jack before he got going about how and why he hated the Goa'uld. "There is also a group of aliens which are like the Goa'uld and they're called the Tok'ra. The Tok'ra believes in a purely symbolic relationship with their host while the Goa'uld takes complete control of their host."

"Ok, so the Gould are the bad guys and the Asgard and Tokra are the good guys, right?"

"Correct!"

"Ok. I can understand the good guys and the bad guys, but what I can't figure out is how Adam got involved and what's going on with the little grey guys and why I had to sit though half an hour worth of tests."

"What? You slept through the test so what does it matter to you." Adam jumped in unable to keep the smirk off his face at Richie's last comment. That and he was trying to distract Richie from asking too many questions about how he found out about the Stargate. Although Richie knew his true age there were still a few things that he preferred less people know about. Richie was fine with everything at the moment but how would he react if he found out the great Methos used to date an alien.

"Please gentlemen. Could you keep the sarcastic comments out of the briefing room? Mr Ryan, the reason why the Asgard were doing those tests. Well I'm guessing it had something to do with the reason why Adam has been informed about the SGC."

"And what's that reason?"

"We believe that the Asgard may have something to do with the creation of the Immortals."

Richie risked a glance at Adam not sure if Hammond should know about immortals or not. Adam noticing the look and couldn't help another smirk from gracing his face.

Adam reassured Richie that Hammond knew about Immortals before he'd had a chance to explain it to him. He told him about how Hammond was in fact Janet's watcher and how Jack had reassured him stating that he was trust worthy.

The meeting went on for about an hour after that with everything being discussed from why the Goa'uld were a threat to how the Asgard were going to help them find out if Loki was indeed responsible for the creation of the Immortals.

It was with great relief that Hammond finally closed the meeting and reminded Richie how important it was for knowledge of the SGC to be kept a secret.

Once Hammond had finally left the briefing room to return to his office Jack turned to face a slightly white faced young immortal.

"So what now?"

"Now, there's nothing that can be done. We're going to have to wait for Thor to get back to us regarding the results of all the tests he put you through, so all we can do is wait."

"Any idea how long it'll be until we find out?"

"I'm guessing here again but with it being the Asgard it won't be long but I really don't know about it. That's more Carter's and Daniel's area."

Adam tried to reassure his young friend. "Don't worry too much about it Richie. There's nothing we can do about it at the moment apart from wait and see what happens."

"Yeah, right! You try having this news planted on you and see if you manage to take your mind off it that easily."

"Ok, but try at least. Come on, let's go see if we can find Louise for you. Then you can both go home and finish off where you left off when you got beamed to the Asgard ship." The smirk was back, plain as day on Adam's face and there was nothing nobody could do about it.

"Yeah, right, that's if he can manage to stay awake long enough." Jack couldn't help but add his own remark even though they were talking about his 'daughter'.

"You don't have to worry about that Jack. I've had a nap today so I'll be fine until well into the night now." Richie plastered a devilish smirk on his face knowing that he'd managed to get one over on Jack without him realising it. The look Jack threw back at him confirmed he wasn't expecting Richie to come out with something like that and it just made Richie smirk even more.

"Way more information than I asked for there, maybe I'll just have to set Teal'c on you and let him teach you to respect your elders."

"Teal'c? Who's Teal'c?"

"What, you mean to tell me Louise hasn't told you any stories of our friendly neighbourhood Jaffa?"

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A/N: - Remember to let me know what you think.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

Louise was hunched over her computer looking at a long list of files she had been trying to organise for Daniel over the past week or so. She was totally involved when Teal'c entered the office. Because she was so engrossed in what she was doing she never noticed Teal'c even though he was stood there in silence for a few minutes observing her.

"Louise Robinson. I was unaware you were back at work."

Louise jumped at the sound of Teal'c's booming voice and quickly turned around to face Teal'c. "Teal'c, you scared me. What? Oh sorry, well I wasn't expecting to be back either but Thor had a different idea."

"I was also unaware that Thor was in the proximity of Earth."

"Well he wasn't, you see he told Mani, that's the Asgard that beamed us all up there, to beam me up because he wanted to see me."

"Mani beamed you onto the Asgard ship?"

"Yeah, me and Richie."

"Richie? I am unaware of anyone at the SGC by the name of Richie."

"Oh, Richie Ryan. He's my boyfriend, he's not part of the SGC. Mani, it seems, couldn't wait until I was alone to beam me up so he beamed the both of us up. Richie's either still on board the Asgard ship or he's in a meeting with General Hammond at the moment, going thorough the whole 'the SGC is top secret speech.'"

"Well, you'll be happy to know that he's neither of those places," Jack said as they turned into the office with Adam and Richie following closely behind. "Hey, Teal'c, how's it going?"

"I don't believe there is anything 'going', O'Neill."

"Right. Teal'c, meet Richie Ryan. Richie, meet Teal'c."

Richie held out his hand to shake Teal'c's hand but quickly pulled it back as Teal'c came to stand mere centimetres in front of him towering over him with a look on his face that could make any immortal no matter how big run for the hills. "If you bring any harm to Louise Robinson I warn you, you will live to regret making that mistake."

"Errrr. Ok. Sure man." Richie said trying to back up but was unable to do so as Adam was still standing behind him.

"Oh for crying out loud, Teal'c! Leave Richie alone! He's had a long enough day as it is with Mani and Thor. I think the last thing he needs now is an over protective Jaffa threatening him."

"I do not believe I was threatening him. I was only stating what I would do if he brought any harm to Louise."

"Yeah, Teal'c, but generally when you 'warn' the boyfriend of someone you care or look out for, you generally 'warn' them in a more 'subtle' manner so that they don't realise they have been 'warned' until they have had time to think things through."

"I do not see how that would work. If they do not realise that they are being warned then how will they know not to harm that person?"

"Teal'c, never mind!" Jack said sighing with frustration.

"So, is Richie free to go then?"

"Yeah, he's had the 'don't talk about it unless you wanna get shot' talk, although I guess getting shot really wouldn't work, met the Asgard, fallen asleep while undergoing tests for Asgard. Yyyeeeah, I think that's about all, he's free to go."

Louise tried to stifle a snicker. "Fell asleep while Asgard were doing tests on him?"

Adam grinned like a Cheshire cat. "Yeah, Mani was doing his tests while Richie was lying down on the table and I guess he must have had a few too many late nights." Adam's eye's glistened with humour at the shocked looks on Louise and Richie's faces.

Jack gave Adam a pronounced frown. "Adam, what have I told you about insinuating things like that in my presence."

"Oh, get over it Jack. I'm only having a laugh."

Jack opened his mouth, but Louise cut in before he could start any arguments over her and Richie's love life. "You know what? I think it's about time Richie and I head off home. We'll see you guys later."

With that Louise pushed her way past Teal'c and Jack and pulled Richie the rest of the way out of the office and continued on up to the surface and away from the bickering of Jack and Adam. At least she knew nobody was going to get hurt as Teal'c was watching over them.

Even thought the tests had finished for a while, Sam and Janet were still aboard the Asgard Research Vessel going over a few things with Thor and Mani.

They were not only going over the results from the scans Mani had taken earlier but also going through parts of Loki's ship's database which Thor had had transmitted to the Research ship.

"What exactly do you guys do on this floating research lab?" Janet asked when there was a moment of silence.

"As you know humans are a lot like our original form before our cloning deteriorated our DNA." Mani started. "This ship and many others like it are based around different parts of the universe scanning planets looking for anything that could help in repairing our cloning mistakes."

"So, you've been scanning our planet for a 'missing link', for lack of a better word, but for how long?" Sam asked, just as interested as Janet.

"As you know Asgard have had dealings with your planet in the past. Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful so we discontinued our testing. When O'Neill encountered the Ancient download device, leading him to come to one of our planets for help to remove their knowledge, it was then that we realised how much the inhabitants of the Earth had advanced and their untapped potential and resumed our tests." Mani informed them.

"What about Loki? How long had Loki been experimenting with people of Earth?" Sam couldn't help but ask.

"Several of your centuries ago Loki was discovered to be conducting unauthorized genetic experiments on inhabitants of Earth. In going over his ship records we estimated that Loki had been conducting experiments on Earth every ten years for almost ten thousand of your years." Thor informed them. "At the time, we couldn't understand how his ship had managed to go undetected to the research ships orbiting Earth. Asgard engineers analysed his ship to find out how he had done it and it appeared that he had developed a new kind of cloaking device. At that time, Loki was severely reprimanded and sanctions were placed on him and his activities. Apparently, that was not enough to hinder his pursuits. It also means that he has found a different way to cloak his activities. Even as we speak, Asgard technicians are investigating his ship, atom by atom, in some cases. Also, based on his database, he started his experiments again some one hundred of your years later."

"So how come Loki didn't know you put a blocker in Colonel O'Neill's DNA? Until we contacted you about him, that is." Sam asked, as she couldn't understand Loki not knowing.

Mani looked at Thor unsure about what to say.

"Loki was not informed about the blocker put in O'Neill's DNA as he is no longer a member of the genetic community, Major Carter. That was one of his punishments for his earlier actions." Thor answered honestly then seemed to hesitate. "Mani became aware of Loki's presence when he investigated the sudden disappearance of Colonel O'Neill from his home. Mani contacted me to informing me of Loki's apparent activities. Unfortunately, I was unavailable at that time due to a Replicator attack on one of our planets. Once the situation with the Replicators was under control I came straight to Earth, that is why it only took me a few moments to reach Loki's ship when you contacted me."

"You knew about Loki but you didn't do anything about him?" Carter asked having a hard time believing the Asgard would let someone like Loki to have access to Earth.

"We were unaware that Loki had restarted his experiments until the aforementioned incident with Colonel O'Neill." Thor said. "We were unaware of Loki's ship orbiting your planet, so we had no way of knowing what he was doing."

"But, surely you would have noticed he was beaming people back and forth?" Janet spoke up for the first time in a while.

Thor looked over at Mani then back over to Sam and Janet. "From examination of both ships databases we now know that Loki coincided his transports to match when Mani was transporting, in effect causing his transports to go undetected." Thor answered and Sam could have sworn she saw regret in his eyes.

"So, even though he had been a bad boy before, you just left him alone and didn't keep an eye on him?" Sam asked trying not to sound patronising.

"As I said we were unaware of what he was doing. After he was stripped of his title when we discovered him conducting unsanctioned experiments on humans we believed that he had learnt from his mistakes. He had not ignored our rules to our knowledge since then until cloning O'Neill. Until I boarded his ship and saw the evidence myself, I would not have believed that Loki had gone against the wishes of the other Asgard. It was so unlikely to me that I instructed Mani to not approach Loki until I arrived." Thor informed them.

"So has an Asgard ever disregarded your orders before?"

"It is highly unusual for an Asgard to disregard orders, but unfortunately like any other race, the Asgard have people that believe we can not achieve things by following orders." Thor continued to answer their questions.

"But it does happen?" Sam asked puzzled. "Yet you still let Loki have access to our planet?"

"We did not believe there was any possibility that Loki would abduct and withhold O'Neill from you, especially after we had put the blocker in O'Neill's DNA."

"But you just said that he didn't know about the blocker." Janet was confused now.

"Although Loki was not informed about the blocker when the genetic community was, we believed that one of his colleagues..." Thor didn't get very far before being interrupted by an annoyed Janet.

"So, you're saying that the Asgard didn't bother about checking up on Loki and his ship even though he had been regularly 'missing' from Asgard influences? And the timing of this 'missings' just so happened to follow the same pattern that had previously been established! All because of a lot of assumptions…"

"Loki is normally well informed with new information regarding the cloning procedure and possible solutions regardless of the fact he was no longer part of the genetic community. Therefore we assumed it was common knowledge about O'Neill's DNA blocker." Mani informed them speaking up since the beginning of the conversation.

"If you don't mind me asking. Where is Loki now?" Carter asked not sure if she was going to like the answer she was about to receive.

"Loki is now on the Asgard home world stationed in a lab working on the Replicator issue."

Carter rolled her eyes and placed a hand on her forehead. "So he's not in a prison or anything."

"The Asgard does not have any requirements for a prison as there are very few instances of disobedience. Anybody that does something as Loki did are re-educated and placed back into the Asgard community with limited privileges until such a time when they can prove they will be no longer a rogue element."

"So, he could get hold a ship any time he wants to and start his little DNA games all over again."

"It is highly unlikely that Loki will be granted access to a ship for many years to come."

"Isn't that kind of like the thing you said about an Asgard hardly ever breaking the rules?"

"Major Carter, I understand your concern in this matter but I can assure you that Loki will not be about to gain access to a ship without the Asgard High Council knowing about it. In the highly unlikely circumstance of that taking place the Asgard High Council would contact Mani as Earth was where Loki did a high amount of his research."

"So it's basically 'don't worry about Loki because if he does gain access to a ship the research ship in orbit of Earth will know about it before anybody else does."

"I believe that is just what I explained."

"I'm sure Colonel O'Neill will feel reassured about that bit of information." Mani said to further alleviate Major Carter.

"I truly believe that Colonel O'Neill will not feel reassured about that bit of information."

"I do not understand Major Carter, I would think that Colonel O'Neill would be reassured about the fact that in the case Loki did gain access to a ship the Asgard in the proximity of Earth would be the first to be warned."

"O'Neill would feel more reassured if there was no chance at all of Loki gaining access to a ship."

"I am unable to guarantee that Loki would not be able to get access to a ship but I do believe it is highly unlikely."

"I don't believe O'Neill will consider that good enough."

"I am, unfortunately, unable to give more reassurance in this instance, Major Carter."

"Ok, I'll just let you be the one that tells him that."

"As you wish."

* * *

A/N: Ok people. FirstI would like to once again thank all those who reviewed and please continue reviewing asI like reviews, a lot.

Second we've caught up with my beta so from now on I'll only be able to up load a chapter as soon as he returns them to me. I must state tho for those people who think this is a WIP it isn't. I have the completed story I'm just waiting for it to be beted. You can't blaime my beta either because his wife has just had a baby so he's doing him best. AllI ask is for you to be patiant andI will post as soon asI get each chapter back form him.

Thanks and keep reviewing.

P.S. Anybody interested in been a beta for a highlander story that I've wrote e-mail me and let me know.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

It was about an hour later when Thor left the research lab to beam Jack and Adam back up to the ship. Once again, they were all gathered around the research lab, the humans talking among themselves, Thor working on the information from Loki's old ship and Mani working on the scans from the tests performed earlier on Richie and Sam.

"Mani, could you send the genetic scans of all of the immortals to my console." Thor requested, catching the attention of the humans.

"You got something Thor?"

"I have found a database full of genetic scans, images, and dates. I believe I may have found a file of all immortals but I would like to confirm this by comparing the immortal's genetic information with the database."

"The files have been sent, Thor."

"Thank you." Thor said then got back to work. Adam came to stand behind him and was looking over Thor's shoulder when all of a sudden an image of himself came up on screen, the style of clothing he was wearing was from the seventies. There was another image but he could only guess that it was him as a child in the sterile environment of what looked like an Asgard style ship. "The file that belongs to Adam is one of the first files on the list, although all the ones before his have been closed and a significant number of them following his creation are closed."

"So, that's me on his file. You got a date on that thing as I can't seem to remember my birth date." Adam said, trying to ease the tension in the room although he couldn't help how his voice wavered with emotion.

"Are there any records for any of the other, present, immortals?"

"I believe I have also found Doctor Fraiser. She is dated about a millennium after yourself Adam…"

"That sounds about right."

"Louise is not in this file as she was in one that we've already check through that has nothing to do with immortals. I am just checking, at the moment, for Richie."

The room drifted into silence as Thor worked on the control console. When he finally looked up at the group of humans, Adam was still standing behind him although he couldn't work out what had been found, as he couldn't understand the writing.

"I believe I have found the file on Richie. It is not grouped with the other immortals. I believe Loki called this file 'The Next Phase' Like all the other immortals Richie was created from three sources but unlike the others who were created by two ordinary human donors and an Asgard donor, Richie was created from one ordinary human donor, one Asgard donor and one immortal donor."

"Immortal donor? Who?"

"I will try and bring up an image of the immortal donor used." Thor started once again working on the control console. Moments later an image appeared on screen.

"You have got to be joking."

"I have not made a joke, Adam. I have only brought up the image of the immortal used for the creation of Richie."

"But. But that's…"

"It's who?" Jack couldn't help it; his curiosity was getting the better of him.

"It's me!"

"What?" was the response of all the humans present in the room.

"According the file on Richie, Loki felt that the reason Adam was the oldest surviving immortal had something to do with his genes being more advanced than the others, so he tried to blend Adam's genetic information with one of the more recent advanced humans."

"So, Richie is meant to be an 'extra' advanced immortal?"

"That is what Loki's findings seem to indicate."

"I concur with Thor. I have just finished examining Richie's genetic information and it seems to be more advanced than anything I have seen." Mani said looking up from the scans he was reviewing.

"I think I need to sit down." was Adam's reply as he un-ceremonially dropped to the floor.

"Adam, are you alright?" Sam said coming to crouch down at the side of him.

"Huh. Sam, I, what am I meant to tell him?"

"I really don't know Adam."

"You'd think I'd know wouldn't you. Gods, I only went through with the Asgard thing just for some peace of mind, now I've ended up with a second kid when here I was thinking it was impossible. I guess that that's one mystery of the universe I've never been able to work out. When you want something, it never happens and then when you finally accept that it's never going to happen. It happens so much that it overwhelms you."

Sam couldn't help the small amount of laughter that escaped her then looked at the painful look in Adam's eyes and it made her stomach feel like it was twisting in knots. "I'm sorry. It's just I don't think I've ever seen you this uncertain, apart from when dad brought up his little surprise."

"It's ok. What are we going to tell him? And before you say it, Jack, I'm going to tell him. It's not something I'd keep from him! Just think how he'd feel about it if he found out later on! What would he think if I didn't tell him as soon as I found out?"

"Adam, I understand what you're feeling but, are you sure it's the best thing to do." Jack said from across the room.

"How the hell do you know what I'm feeling, Jack? You didn't know Louise until you went looking for her after getting informed by Thor that she existed. This is different; I've known Richie since about two years after he became immortal. I just don't know how he'll react. Mac's more of a dad to him than I could ever be."

"Do exactly the same thing you told me and Sam to do, Adam, just tell him the first way that comes to mind when you talk to him."

"Yeah, that looks like it's going to be the best way, doesn't it?"

"Yeah. And Adam?"

"Yeah?"

"Is it just me or does it feel like we're living in a soap opera here?"

Adam couldn't help it, no matter how he was feeling at that present moment in time he couldn't hold in the laughter at Jack's comment. "Thank you, Jack!" Adam said when he finally caught his breath again.

"Hey, it's all in a day's work." Jack grinned back at him.

"So, I guess we're going to have to go tell Hammond about the findings then I've got some news to deliver."

"Hey, I thought I was meant to be the one in charge of this mission?" Jack said scowling slightly at Adam.

"Sorry, I guess I thought we'd swapped roles for a minute there with you doing all the jokes instead of me."

"What you talking about? I'm always coming out with jokes aren't I Carter?"

"Is that what you're always trying to do sir? I just always assumed you'd eaten something that didn't agree with you." Sam said trying to keep a smirk from her face.

"Funny, Carter. Very funny!"

"I thought so, sir."

"Ok, Thor could you beam us back down to the SGC. I think it's about time…"

"...we told Hammond what's going on."

"And what would that be, Colonel?" said a mildly surprised General Hammond as his conference room was filled with people.

Adam smirked. Jack's little grey buddy had done it again.

Everyone found a seat, all thinking through everything they've been told.

Louise and Richie were just sitting down, after finishing off their dinner, when there was a gentle knock at the back door. Louise got up from her seat and walked toward the back of the cottage to answer the door. She suddenly felt the presence of another immortal. Quickly retrieving Richie's sword out of his jacket on the coat rack, she cautiously opened the door.

"Kenver. I didn't realise you were still in town." Louise smiled at her teacher as she opened the door wider so he could enter.

"Louise, good to see you again. How are things with Richie?"

Louise smiled back unable to keep the blush from her face. "Ok. Do I have to admit that you were right, everything's going good?"

"I would never ask you to admit that when I really know I was right already; just as long as you realise that you should always listen to me, the old and wise teacher, you'll be alright."

"Thanks Kenver. So what you still doing in town."

"Oh, I just thought I'd stay around for a bit to keep an eye on how things are going and make sure that you are truly safe from any more tricks Malcolm may set."

"There's been no more trouble since I killed Malcolm."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"Yeah, well I don't know if I'll ever get used to the killing part of being immortal!"

"Well, it's something we've got to live with; I don't think anyone gets used to it, anyone with a soul, that is."

"Yeah, true. Come on Richie'll more than likely want to say hello."

"So he stayed then?"

"You know that he stayed if you've been watching the place."

"Well, I can act surprised can't I?"

"But it doesn't work that well with me because I know when you're lying or as you like to say 'bending the truth'"

"My dear Louise I have never lied to you."

"Like I said, you like to call it 'bending the truth'."

"Ok, you seem to have me there."

Louise snorted at Kenver before entering the living room where she knew Richie would be by now. Richie relaxed as he saw them enter and smiled, although he'd only meet Kenver once before, he thought he was an ok kind of guy.

"Hey Kenver, I didn't realise you were still in town."

"Yeah, I thought I'd stick around for a few days but I'm heading out tomorrow so I thought I'd drop by and say bye before I left."

"Well, its great to see you again! Can I get you a drink?"

"Yeah, a coffee would be great, thanks."

"One coffee, coming up." Richie cheerfully said leaving the living room. He returned minutes later, from the kitchen, with three cups of coffee.

* * *

A/N: - Well hope your still liking it becauseI didn't get many reviews last time. Let me know what you thought, whether it's good or bad I always like to know.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

Adam leaned against the hood of his car, which was parked outside the cottage. He'd been standing there for a few minutes not sure what he was going to say to Richie.

If he was truly honest with himself the main reason he was hesitating wasn't the fact that he didn't know what he was going to say, that was pretty easy after all. It was the fact that he didn't know how Richie was going to react that un-nerved him.

Although he had been truthful before when he was talking to Jack and Sam about knowing Richie since about two years after his first death, the problem was he didn't actually 'know' him. Yeah, he'd seen him hang around with MacLeod but when had he really had the time to hang out with him and get to truly 'know' him.

Truth was he was afraid that Richie would think it was some kind of trick or something and would call MacLeod. Mac would more than likely jump to the conclusion that he was up to something as well. He had been Death after all, so it wasn't much of a stretch to think he was messing with the head of a young immortal.

Richie had been rejected most of his life up until meeting MacLeod and Tessa. Hell, he'd considered them family according to one of the times he'd talk to MacLeod about him and MacLeod was quick to state that he felt exactly the same.

No matter how many disagreements they have had, MacLeod and Richie were family, family had their disagreements after all but they were always there to watch out for one another.

Adam knew that if he did anything to harm Richie, whether it was mentally or physically, he would have MacLeod there waiting for him just to make sure that he'd pay for harming his family.

Adam envied MacLeod because of that, having someone you could trust with your life, someone always there to look out for you. To know that there was someone out there to back you up if you really needed the help.

Hell, no matter how many times he'd been married in the past, Adam had to admit to himself that there wasn't really one time that he felt completely at ease. He never felt completely safe, always looking over his shoulder for the next person who was coming after his head.

It wasn't until he got to know Sam that he finally could relax, if only slightly. He'd had a hard time trying to let down all the barriers he had built up over the millenniums. No matter how much he tried though there was still that little voice of doubt in the back of his mind telling him he still wasn't one hundred percent safe.

He knew that what he had to realise was that no matter how much anyone tried they could never get one hundred percent safe. Hell, they were luck with just fifty percent safe. But he'd been alive for a long time and he didn't want it too end. He'd grown to the point that hardly anything took him by surprise anymore, and death was one big surprise he was in no hurry to finding the secrets of.

It wasn't that he was afraid to die, hell no. In fact, it might give him some well earned rest after all the years of roaming the planet. It was just a case of 'he'd lived that long he didn't like the idea of not living anymore.'

Religions has risen and fallen during his sojourn on this planet. He truly didn't know if he believed in an afterlife or a God almighty. How could there be one entity that controls everything after all?

The Egyptians had believed in Ra, Apophis, Osiris and countless other gods which turned out to be alien parasites that took over a host body.

The Norse gods turned out to be the Asgard.

Were there any other aliens out there that had come to take advantage of the primitive minds that used to dwell on Earth?

Hell, he was sure he'd overheard Sam and Janet discussing some aliens that took the names of Native American Spirits.

He had never really believed in God with much desire, but having any hint of God tainted by aliens was just too much. It made him think long and hard about other things he had thought of as miracles over the years. Looking back over them now with the knowledge he had now he wasn't half as impressed as when they had happened at the time.

Hell, he realised then that he had gone way off track. How did he manage to get from thinking about Richie's reaction about him being his biological father to whether or not there truly was a God or Gods?

Shaking his head in an attempt to clear his mind of all the nagging doubts that he'd been thinking over; he pushed off the car and walked determinedly towards the cottage.

A sharp knock sounded on the back door disturbing the conversation between the three immortals. Richie got up from his seat quickly volunteering to get the door, while Louise and Kenver continued to talk about old times.

As went back to the back of the cottage, he picked up his sword, which Louise had left leaning up against the doorframe, to return it to his jacket. As he neared the door it was easy to tell that another immortal was behind it so he held onto it, just in case. Casually opening the door Richie was surprised to see a slightly wary looking older immortal standing on the other side.

"Hey, Adam, you got news back from Thor already?"

Adam hesitated slightly, "Yeah. Can I come in Richie?"

"Yeah, sure. Kenver's here so you may as well join the party." Richie replied with a raised eyebrow.

"Kenver? I didn't realise he was still in town."

"Neither did Louise and I until he turned up at our door about an hour ago."

"Oh!"

"Don't worry Adam, I think he's near enough ready to get going anyway." Richie tried to reassure Adam thinking the hesitation was because he didn't want to be around an immortal he knew very little about. "I think he said something about an early flight tomorrow morning or something. Once he's gone we'll discuss what Thor found out. Do you want a beer?"

"Err, yeah sure."

Richie gave Adam another puzzled look as he couldn't remember ever seeing Adam this distracted before, and it was slightly disconcerting that something could unsettle him that much.

"You sure you're ok? You look worried about something."

"What? Oh. No, I'm fine, honest." Adam said trying to take his mind off worrying for a little while but found it extremely hard.

"Ok, go on through to the front room, I'll just go get your beer."

"Sure."

With that Adam walked off into the front room while Richie watched him, still slightly un-nerved about the old timer's mood. Shaking his head figuring that it was probably nothing he'd have to worry about he walked off into the kitchen to retrieve Adam a beer.

"Adam, we didn't expect to see you tonight." Louise greeted him with a smile.

"Yeah, well, I got some news from a mutual 'friend'. I just thought I may as well bring it round in person."

"Oh. Well, we'll have to discuss that later then." Louise said brushing the fact that she was eager for the news because of Kenver's presence.

"Yeah, Richie told me you had a guest." Adam looked over to Kenver and nodded a greeting.

"A guest that knows when it's time to leave." Kenver stood up and moved over to Louise. "It's been nice talking to you again, Louise. Keep yourself safe."

"Kenver, you don't have to go." Louise said although they all knew she was only saying out of politeness.

"Yes, I do, Louise, remember I have an early flight to catch, plus it looks like there's something troubling Adam here. Something tells me he'll feel a lot better once he gets it off his chest."

"It can wait, Kenver. You don't have to leave on my account." Adam said half heartedly.

"It was nice to see you as well, Adam, no matter brief but I really do have to get going. We'll more than likely cross paths again sometime in the future." Kenver said shaking Adam's hand.

"Well, with Louise here in both our lives that looks like a high possibility."

Kenver nodded his head. Louise walked him to the door where they said their final goodbyes, uncertain when they would next meet.

Richie entered the living room, beer in hand and noticed there was only Adam there. "Where is everyone?" He asked.

"Kenver's leaving. Louise is walking him to the door to say goodbye." Adam replied taking the beer from Richie. Adam gulped down almost half the bottle of beer in one swallow as he walked over to the window.

"Take it easy old man, we don't have an endless supply of those!" Richie said.

"Oh, sorry! Guess I needed that more than I realised."

"Looks like you could've used something a lot stronger." Richie shot back still worried about how un-nerved the elder immortal looked. "Are you sure everything's alright?"

Adam seated himself on the sofa, but instead of relaxing like he would usually do, he sat stiffly on the end of the seat.

"So, what did you find out?" Louise asked as she re-entered the room.

Adam looked up at her and knew that the time had arrived when he would have to tell all. "Thor found some files in Loki's database. It looks like the little grey bastard has been experimenting for several millenniums, trying to find a cure for that Asgard cloning problem or something."

"So, it's confirmed then? The Asgard were responsible for creating Immortals?"

"The Asgard had no knowledge of what Loki was doing. It looks like he was doing the same as what he did with Louise. Finding two 'donors' as Thor called them and using their DNA and Asgard DNA to create an immortal."

"So what…?" Richie started but was cut off by Adam.

"Richie please! Just let me finish, ok?"

"Sure, just get to the point." Richie couldn't help getting slightly annoyed at been cut off.

"I would, if you'd let me." Adam couldn't help but bite, but immediately regretted it. "It seems Loki was really good at keeping records, he had a record of all immortals and possible immortals he'd created going back even before me. Thor confirmed from the timeline of experiments that I was the oldest living immortal still living. He continued on through the list and found Janet, then we found you Richie, but there was something different about you. Loki decided to try something different, rather than using two mortal human donors and then adding the Asgard DNA to the mix he used one mortal human's DNA and one immortal's DNA which he then added the Asgard DNA."

"Adam, are you saying that I have an immortal as one of my biological parents?" Richie's voice croaked.

"Yes!"

"Who?"

"Richie, it's…" he couldn't. The look on Richie's face was just too much. Was that horror he could see almost overflowing in his eyes?

How could he tell him when he was obviously horrified about the whole possibility of having an immortal for a parent?

"Adam?" Richie pleaded.

He couldn't, he just couldn't break the child's heart like that. Bolting to his feet Adam did the thing he was best at; he turned and ran, while Louise and Richie watched in confusion.

* * *

A/N: - Thanks for the reviews once again and please keep them coming. Hope you like this and sorry for the cliffe hanger but it had to be done.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

The door closed sharply behind Adam. He was glad for that fact and started walking as he found he couldn't control his emotions anymore. He knew he was in no condition to drive so he walked as fast as he could into the tree line; hoping to disappear before Louise and Richie realised what had happened and decided to come looking for him.

Richie opened the front door to the cabin just in time to see Adam disappear into the tree line. Louise came up behind Richie and pushed him out of the door, urging him to go after his old friend, "Go Richie! Please!"

Richie looked at her reassuring face and wondered what she thought was happening. Realizing that he was wasting time, Richie turned and headed for the point in the trees that Adam had moments ago disappeared into.

Louise watched him go. A feeling in the pit of her stomach told her that she knew what Richie was about to find out. She'd seen the same look that was now on Adam's face before, it was remarkable similar to the look which was on Jack and Sam's faces that morning, moments before she'd found out they were her biological parents.

After hearing Adam's explanation of Thor's findings and seeing the look on his face, she put two and two together.

What Adam was having a hard time saying seemed pretty obvious to her. He was Richie's biological father.

She couldn't help but believe this whole situation was just a big joke been pulled by whatever true God or Gods there were out there.

How could all this happen within the space of twenty-four hours?

She knew exactly what Richie would be feeling when Adam told him the truth. It was likely to be exactly what she'd been feeling since finding out about Jack and Sam.

Richie came up to the clearing where they'd first met Kenver. He found Adam sitting on the shore of the lake with his head in hands. Richie stayed just outside of the range of the buzz watching the defeated looking man sit in silence.

What could Adam have possibly found out that would make him act like he was? Normally Adam was a confident, funny person to be around. No matter what was happening around him he generally always had a mischievous streak, but at the moment there was something missing. There was something that had him so worried he didn't know how to cope with it and that fact worried Richie.

"Are you just going to stand there all day or are you actually going to come over here and at least pretend to find out what's wrong?" Adam's voice cut in to the young Immortal's thoughts, causing him to look over again at Adam. He noticed Adam had turned around to face him.

"Sorry. Was trying to decide if you wanted company or not." Richie said sheepishly.

"Yes and no." Adam admitted.

Richie moved into the clearing, taking a seat on a fallen tree about a meter away from where Adam was still seated on the grassy ground.

"Adam, I may not be an old and wise immortal like yourself but I still count myself as your friend. If you don't feel I should know which immortal the Asgard guy used as part of my cocktail then don't tell me. Mac trusts you and so do I!"

"Thank you Richie, but it's not right for me to keep it from you. It's just, well… Richie you've got to understand things have been weird for the past few months. Each time something happens it adds another unwieldy object on an already unsteady pile and now this has been added." He pursed his lips, trying to think of the right words. "It just feels like the pile is going to topple at any moment and when it does we're going to be left with one big mess, one that we're going to have to struggle to clean up."

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, old man." Richie admitted trying to knock off the blank look that had taken over his features.

"Neither do I!" Adam let out a small laugh.

"Adam, is it someone we know? Is it someone that's tried to kill us at one time or another? Someone Mac has killed? Or someone I've killed? Is that why you don't want me to know?" Richie looked pleadingly at him.

"Yes, it's someone we know and no it's not someone who's tried to kill us at one time or another and this person is very much still alive. Ok, let me tell you the reason why Loki tried using an Immortal's DNA, then maybe you'll understand a bit more."

"Ok, Shoot."

"Well, you see the Asgard have been using cloning technology as a form of reproduction for countless millennia. During the cloning process their DNA degraded so much that they no longer look like they used to when they first started. They've been looking for an advanced human to help them solve their cloning problem. Loki was a rogue researcher, the reason why he chose your selection of biological parents was because he believed they had superior genes."

"Did it work?"

"Huh, did what work?" Adam had been watching for Richie's reaction so intently, that he hadn't been taking much noticed of what the young man was saying.

"The gene thing? Did they manage to create what they were looking for?"

"They got very close with you. According to Thor you're almost there. You're apparently one of the most advanced human's they've seen in a very long time."

"Wow! Well, that has to be the first time someone's ever told me I was more advanced than anyone. Let alone the most advanced human in a long time." Richie clearly didn't know what to say so he had started babbling.

"Well, you can now tell them that you're the most advanced human with the oldest living Immortal for a father." Adam watched Richie and could swear that he saw the exact second that the truth sunk into Richie.

"What? You mean?" Richie felt his throat go dry. Could it be true? Was it possible for Methos to be his father, not some immortal he had killed in the past? The thought lifted the guilt that had settled over him and a small part of him couldn't help but be relieved that it was Methos.

"Richie I'm sorry that wasn't the way it was meant to come out. I…" Adam didn't know what to say. He couldn't make out the emotion on Richie's face and that scared him.

Had he just blown it, the one chance he had to tell him the truth and he just blurts it out in the form of a joke. How stupid could he get?

Adam got to his feet; ready to bolt again. He couldn't register everything that was happening, yet time seemed to have slowed down. His heart was beating a hundred miles an hour; his mouth had lost all its moisture. God, what had he done?

Richie could tell Adam was about to run. He could tell from the way Adam had risen to his feet and had started to face away from him. He was readying himself to run and if he did; Richie knew he wouldn't get a chance to catch up to him this time. He had to do something. He had to get Adam's attention back on him some how.

"Methos!" Richie all but shouted trying to stop Adam as he lurched forward mere milliseconds from running. "Don't you dare think about going anywhere! You can't expect to tell me you're my father then just turn tail and run! That's not the way it works!"

Adam turned and stared in shock at Richie. He'd seen him mad. He'd seen him happy. He'd seen him with a thousand other emotions but he'd never seen him like this before. Confident, but not his usual faux confidence, this was the real deal. He knew exactly what he wanted and he wasn't going to back down until he got it, no matter how long it took.

"Richie…I'm sorry."

"Will you stop saying that! What are you sorry for? For telling me the truth, well, don't be. I'd have been royally pissed if I hadn't have found out from you but there's no way in hell that you can just dump this news on me then leave!"

"But, it's obvious you don't like the idea of having an immortal for a father." Adam started then lowered his head almost mumbling. "Let alone me…"

"Methos, I have never had any real family. You should know that Mac's the closest thing to a family I've had since Emily died and I got put back in the foster care system. How do you expect me to act?" Richie paused and got up and started pacing. "Now I find out that you're my father and not only that but as you put it 'the oldest living immortal' as my father. I've never known how to really act around you because of that fact. Now I've also got to look at you like a father as well."

"I…"

"I was shocked! How did you expect me to react?" Richie asked him again still not expecting an answer. "Did you expect me to be all happy go lucky and let's celebrate, well, it doesn't work like that, either. I'm not going to push you away but I need time to think things through. Methos, can you let me have that time? Let me think things through before you jump to any more conclusions."

"I…" Adam started but stopped when he looked up and saw a determined and worried Richie. "Yes."

"Good, now I think I should go do that, go think."

Richie turned to leave but was stopped by the crackling voice of Adam. "Richie. Thank you!"

"I should be thanking you. I never thought I'd find any of my real family. You've given me that chance, but, like I said, I really need to think things through."

"Then I'll give you all the time you need."

Richie nodded in appreciation then turned and walked back towards the cottage. Adam followed him at a distance giving him as much space as he needed.

Louise watched as a thoughtful looking Richie exited the tree line. A slightly relieved looking Adam exited some distance away from Richie. With out saying a word Adam quickly walked towards his car, climbed in and pulled away.

Richie continued onto the cottage but stopped at the front door and wordlessly pulled Louise into his arms for comfort.

"You knew didn't you?" Richie's muffled voice asked.

"I guessed."

"How did you manage? When you found out about Jack and Sam, that is?"

"I only found out today too, you know. I've coped with it about as much as you have."

"Guess at least we'll have each other to help work things through." He gave her a small smile as he pulled back.

"Yeah, I guess there is that." She smiled back.

Louise looked deep into his eyes and saw his need for comfort that matched her own. They both leaned in at the same time and gave each other a gentle kiss, letting each other know that they were there.

"Come on let's go in. It's starting to get cold out." Richie said as he pulled out of Louise's arms and turned to enter the cottage.

"What, you call this cold? Hell, you obviously haven't been to England during the wintertime. If you had you wouldn't be complaining about it being slightly chilly." She grinned as she tried to lighten the mood slightly.

"No, never been in England during in the winter, but I've been in Paris during the winter, now that's damn cold too, you know."

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A/N: - Once again thanks for the review and keep them coming and once again we've caught up with the beta so I'll only post the next chapter once I get it back off him.

Hope you enjoy.

P.S. Looking for one beta who would be interested in been a beta for 2 stories or two betas, one for each story. I'm going to post the first chapters of each one (both finished by the way, just need checking) if your interested you can e-mail me or check the first chapters out then e-mail me. Both stories are Highlander stories only though.

Let me know what you think.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

Louise was cuddled up to Richie in bed when there was a knocking that interrupted her dreams making her drift further and further into consciousness. Forcing herself to wake up even more she listened for the noise, trying to determine where it was coming from. Finally realising it was the noise of someone knocking on the front door she nudged Richie in an effort to wake him up.

"Richie, go get the front door." She murmured.

"Err, jusssstt teeen moreee minutessss." Richie managed to say his speech slurred with sleep.

"Fine, I'll get it!" Louise pushed the covers off herself and Richie making sure they landed well out of his reach. She pulled on some sweat pants to match the T-shirt she had been using to sleep in and looked over at Richie who was sleepily searching for the covers with his hands.

Padding through the cottage in her bare feet Louise couldn't believe it was morning already. It felt only like minutes since she'd finally managed to shut her brain off and was over taken by sleep.

Finally reaching the door, Louise yanked the door open cutting off another knock that had just started.

"It's about time. We've been standing out here knocking for about half an hour." An annoyed sounding voice fluttered though her brain telling her to focus more and when she did she was shocked by what she saw.

"Mum? Dad? What are you doing here?" She almost squeaked.

"Well that's a good greeting isn't it? We fly all the way over here to see our only daughter and that's what we get. Aren't you at least going to invite us in?"

"Huh, yeah sure come in. One thing though, how did you know where I was staying?"

"We were worried about you. I contacted Joe he explained that you've been offered a job with a friend of his friend or something like that. When you didn't call to let us know where you were staying or even about your new job we contacted him again and he told us." Louise's dad explained as he followed his daughter and wife into the living room.

Louise was instantly glad when she entered the room and noticed that Richie had taken his sword into the bedroom with him when he'd gone to bed last night. She wasn't sure how her parents would have reacted to her having a sword around, especially with her father having been a Watcher.

"Err, I'm just going to go get changed." Louise pointed back towards the kitchen. "If you want a drink the kitchens just through there."

"Ok." They both replied at the same time.

Patty, Louise's mum sat down on one of the sofas while Edward her father went into the kitchen.

Louise entered the bedroom, closing the door quickly behind her. Richie was still asleep on the bed and had somehow managed to reclaim the covers.

"Richie! Get up, we've got a problem." Louise said as quietly as she could while shaking Richie shoulder.

"Huh? What? Louise what's wrong?" Richie managed to sit up rubbing the sleep from his eyes in an attempt to get them to focus on Louise.

"My mum and dad are here!"

"What?" Richie half asleep brain couldn't understand why that was such a big problem. "What do Jack and Sam want? It's your day off today isn't it?"

"Not Jack and Sam. Mum and Dad! Joe told them where I was and well they're here."

"You mean not Jack and Sam." The truth finally hit Richie and he suddenly looked wide-eyed at Louise.

"That's exactly what I mean. Look, Richie, they… well they don't know about you. I haven't had the chance to ring them since moving over here and well you see my dad used to be a Watcher."

"Oh great!" Richie mumbled. "So what do you want to do?"

"I want you to meet them, but I just want you to careful about what you say."

"Are you sure? I don't usually do meeting the parents very well and to tell you the truth I'm not really keen on Watchers." Richie admitted.

"You'll do ok." She reassured him. "Get dressed and I'll introduce you."

"Ok." Richie sighed as he pushed the covers off himself and walked over to the set of draws, pulled out some clothes then continued onto the bathroom with Louise quickly following his actions.

While Louise got a shower, Richie brushed his teeth and while Richie showered Louise brushed her teeth. They were both ready within record time and while Louise finished off tying up her still damp hair while Richie stood nervously by the bedroom door trying to over hear any conversation that was happening in the front room.

"It'll be ok." Louise smiled over to him. "They'll love you."

Richie snorted at that and hid behind Louise as she exited the bedroom and headed down the hallway to the living room.

"Louise darling, you really need to tidy this place up a bit it's full of dust…" Mrs Robinson turned when she heard her daughter coming back down the hallway then stopped mid sentence when she saw Richie standing behind her.

Mr Robinson looked around at Louise to see what had distracted his wife from continuing her lecture about cleanliness and scowled at what he saw.

"Louise?" Mr Robinson's voice was stern and a look in his eyes clearly told her he knew who and what Richie was.

"Mum, Dad I want you to meet Richie. We've been seeing each other for near enough the whole time I've been here."

"Louise why didn't…"

"Patty honey, could you please go finish off the coffee. I want to have a quick word with Louise." Edward cut in and shot Richie a look that made a shiver run down his spine.

"Edward?" Patty asked confused at her husband's behaviour.

"Please Patty!" He said.

"Ok." Defeated Patty walked into the kitchen while Edward walked closer to Louise and Richie.

"Louise, have you lost your mind. Have you any idea what you've getting yourself into by seeing him?"

"Dad? What do you mean?"

"Louise don't play dumb with me." Edward hissed. "He's immortal and you know it. I know you knew what I used to be and I know you know about immortals. What on Earth possessed you into dating an immortal?"

"It's my choice dad. I can see whomever I want!" Louise said defiantly straightening her back bringing her to her full height.

Just then the front door burst open and Adam raced in, "Louise, Richie, why haven't the two of you been picking up…" he stopping dead in his tracks at the scene in front of him. One obviously angry man, one pissed off looking Louise and Richie's face as white as a sheet.

"What's going on?" Adam asked in concern.

"Adam Pierson?" Edward said as he looked over to see the intruder.

Adam looked Edward up and down suspiciously. "Who's asking?"

"Adam, this is my dad, Edward Robinson." Louise said trying to keep her voice calm.

"You used to be in research didn't you?" Edward said receiving a puzzled look from Adam.

"Adam, Dad used to be in the Watchers too." Louise explained.

"Oh! Anyway sorry to interrupt this family reunion but Hammond requires both of you on base." Adam explained the reason he'd burst in on them.

"Yeah, sure. I just need to get my, errr…" Richie just turned and headed back to the bedroom to retrieve his sword. He returned to the living room sword in hand just in time for Patty to see him as she came out of the kitchen.

Not stopping to say bye Richie walked back past Adam, Louise and her parents and out the front door. Patty looked on concerned at what she'd just seen but Adam had to note that there wasn't any shock on her face.

"Mum, I've got to go. There's something that needs doing at work, I'll try not to be too long."

"Ok dear." Patty voice clearly showed the concern that she felt but didn't want to show her daughter in case she worried her.

Louise nodded then curtly said bye to her dad before turning and followed Adam out of the house.

The silence followed Louise and Adam out of the house and as they got into the car. An annoyed Richie was already sitting in the back his sword already hidden within the folds of his coat, but his face betrayed him, clearly showing the dark mood he was in.

Once they started driving down the dirt road Adam felt the need to clear the air so he asked Louise what had just happened back at the cottage before he'd got there.

"Dad used to be a Watcher before he retired. He worked with Joe for a few years. I guess he must have seen Richie around MacLeod or something as I remember dad and Joe talking about the immortal he was the Watcher for… Fizz… Fitz… something like that. He could have spotted Richie around MacLeod and heard Joe talking about him being immortal. All we know for sure is he knew Richie was immortal the minute he saw him and he wasn't best pleased about the fact that I'm dating him."

"Well at least you can't say I didn't warn you about me always making a bad first impression!" Richie seemed to have lightened up slightly but there was still slight annoyance in his voice.

"Don't worry about it Richie." Louise said. "Dad's always been stuck up when it comes to interacting with immortals. He used to always have a go at Joe for getting too close to MacLeod. I guess I've just given him another reason not to talk to me for another couple of years that's all."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause you any problems." Richie shyly looked down at his hands regretting getting up that morning.

"You didn't Richie. If it wasn't you he would have found another reason not to talk to me, we've never been that close, always trying to find reasons not to talk to one another."

"I can't believe he recognised me though." Adam said as he concentrated on the road. "I hardly saw any of my Watcher colleagues. I can even remember a time when I was talking to another Watcher and didn't realise he was my boss until I was ever so slightly ignorant to him and he decided to point that fact out to me."

"You, being ignorant with someone, that's one thing I wouldn't picture you doing!" Richie's sarcastic reply caused Louise to giggle quietly in her seat. Adam was at least relieved that Richie was loosening up and hopefully by the time they got to the base he would be back to his usual self.

"Funny Richie. Anyway, back to the issue at hand. Thor's contacted us and asked to run some more tests on you Richie, if that's ok?" Adam flicked Richie a glance through the rear view mirror.

"Yeah, sure, that's fine." Richie sighed. "I guess it's better than being stuck back there with the Spanish Inquisition. No offence Louise."

"None taken. I'd rather get burned at the stake then spend another minute with dad when he's in that mood…" Louise turned slightly in her seat so she could smile reassuringly at Richie then looked back over at Adam. "So what do they want with me?"

"Nothing, when I walked into the cottage and saw the looks on all of your faces I thought it'd be a good idea to get both you out of there and make it look good." Adam mischievously smiled and his eyes glinted with mirth.

"Thank you. Thank you! THANK YOU!" Louise started playfully bowing to Adam, as she couldn't help the giggle that escaped, glad that she had friends that would help her out like that.

"Don't worry about it, just if I ever ask for a favour from you don't turn me down."

"Don't worry there's no chance of that happening." Louise smile, maybe everything was going to me all right after all.

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A/N: - Hope your enjoying but where are all my reviews. Please review just to tell me what you think weather it's good or bad I don't mind as I just like to find out what people think.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

Jack, Sam, Adam, Janet, Hammond, Louise and Richie were all seated around the briefing room table talking about the possibility of Thor and Mani finding something out from the tests they'd done on Richie. That was more than likely the reason Thor had contacted them after all, it could also be the reason why they'd want to do more tests on him to confirm their suspicions.

A sudden flash of white light signalled the arrival of Thor and everyone looked over to where Thor was now standing at the opposite side of the briefing room table from Hammond. "Greetings!" Thor said as he bowed his head slightly. He looked up and asked, "Where are Dr. Daniel Jackson and Teal'c?"

Hammond spoke up. "The other half of SG-1 is currently busy at the Alpha site."

Thor nodded his head in understanding.

"Hey, Thor, find anything interesting from the test results?" Jack asked in his usual relaxed manner that always came over clearly in his voice whenever he was speaking to Thor.

"I am afraid to inform you that the test results have led us to the conclusion that neither Major Carter's unborn child nor Richie Ryan has substantial gene advancements to be of any help to the Asgard and our cloning technology." Thor sombrely admitted.

"So why did you ask for Richie to come for some more tests? Wouldn't that be a waste of time if he's not going to be any help." Adam asked in confusion.

"Because I believe there is something Richie and Louise, together, could help us with." Thor blinked and Jack could have sworn that he saw hope within them.

"I don't get it. What can Louise and I do to help?" Richie asked confusion clearly showing in the uncertainty in his voice.

"Both of your genes are more advanced than most humans. Yourself, from Adam and the other candidate and Louise from O'Neill and Major Carter." Thor started his explanation.

"But how could we be of help?" Louise spoke up for the first time since Thor had arrived.

"By combining your genes."

The group looked at Thor blankly for a few minutes before Louise finally spoke up. "Well that's going to be a problem then. You see me and Richie can't have kids, Thor."

"We understand that, Louise. Adam Pierson explained to us while he was aboard the research vessel that immortals are unable to conceive children. That is why the Asgard High Council has agreed to give, as O'Neill would say, 'a helping hand'"

"I don't know about this Thor." Adam jumped into the conversation after seeing the uncertainty on Richie's face. "Richie's still young and it would be a hefty responsibility to care for himself and a child especially if another immortal found out."

"As I understand from what you explained to us, Adam, it was one of your goals to enable immortals to bear children. I am willing to give Richie and Louise that option yet you seem to think it is not wise." Thor tilted his head to the side and gave Adam a puzzled look.

Up until this time, Louise wasn't really paying attention to the conversation. She was thinking over all that Thor was proposing.

"You want me and Richie to have children?" She asked her voice shocked.

"I believe that is what I am saying." Thor replied.

"Oh. Ok." Louise said looking gingerly down at the piece of the paper she'd been doodling on.

"It is our belief that you and Richie would create a child that would be advanced enough to be of help to the Asgard." Thor admitted.

"Ok. Kid? Richie and me? Got that but, I don't know about this." Louise found she could only managed to form basic words and not even whole sentences.

"It was our observation that you and Richie were a couple. It would not be asking too much of you. In fact we believe that it would be something you would be grateful for; the chance of having a family. I have had many conversations with O'Neill about how families are important to humans." Thor once again cocked his head to the side and gained a puzzled expression.

"Thor we've only been a couple for a short while, plus even if we had been a couple for a lot longer it's not something we'd have ever really discussed because it's never been a possibility." Louise didn't know what to do. She could feel her cheeks redden under the watchful eyes of her biological parents and friends not to mention her boss.

Thor nodded his head. "We understand that you would require time to think this option over and we are willing to let you do just that. Although I would just like to state that this would not only help the Asgard it would also result in the advancement of the human race."

"Nothing like putting a little pressure on us." Richie muttered under his breath, making Adam, who was sitting next to him, try to hide a grin that suddenly wanted to take over his features.

"Thor, I believe this is not the correct time to hear a proposal like this." Hammond cut in before anything else could be proposed. "Louise has only just found out that Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter are her biological parents and Mr. Ryan has just found out that Mr. Pierson is his biological father. I would think that that would be enough to think over for one week."

"I do not understand why finding out whose DNA was used in their creations would cause such an issue." Thor stated confused. "If you realised, before hand, that this would be such a momentous event, then why did you insist on knowing about Richie's parentage. In addition, why did you inform Louise that you knew who her biological parents were?"

"Because, Thor, no matter what, we believe they had a right to know." Jack said defending their reasons.

"If that is so I do not understand what the concern is." Thor was still confused. "They know who donated the DNA that enabled their creation. Why is that so difficult for them to comprehend that they would need time to think it through? What has been done cannot be undone. I would think they would be grateful for finding out."

"We are Thor." Louise assured him. "But there are things that we still need to think through. Things like I grew up thinking some other people were my parents until I found out I was immortal. Richie grew up believing there wasn't anyone that would claim him as their own. I need to work through the fact that now I have two sets of parents, one set biological and one set I grew up with. Richie has to deal with the fact that there's going to be someone looking out for him now after all the years he's had to look after himself."

Thor, still not fully understanding what the problem was although Louise had tried explaining it as fully as possible, just blinked his eyes at her and turned to Richie for confirmation of whatever Louise had said was in fact true.

"As you request I will give you as much time as you require to come up with an answer. When you are ready to contact us again you can do so with this device…" just then a small egg shaped device with a button at roughly the centre appeared on the briefing room table in a flash of light. "This is a communication device and will contact me on my ship at anytime. All you have to do is press the button in the centre and talk into the device."

"Just press and talk. Got it!" Jack said picking up the device.

"Colonel, I think it would be best if I held onto the device." Hammond said looking over at Jack pointedly.

"Yes sir." Jack slid the device over to Hammond and everyone noticed the disappointed look that appeared on his face at having to hand over what looked like a cool Asgard communication device, although if anyone asked him he would deny all knowledge of looking interested in any kind of technology that wasn't a weapon.

There was another flash of white light and Thor was gone. Hammond looked around the room at the people still there, noticing that Jack and Sam seemed to focusing their attention on Louise, while Adam seemed to be focusing his attention on Richie. Janet seemed to be worried for all her friends.

"Ok. After everything you've all been through over the past few days I think you all should take a few days off. I don't want to see you until Monday next week."

"Yes sir." was the response of Jack, Sam, Janet and Louise. Adam and Richie still looked slightly shell shocked from Thor's proposal but still managed to mutter a 'yeah' each.

"Dismissed!" Hammond stood up from his seat turning he walked straight to his office not waiting for them to respond to the dismissal.

"Well, looks like we head out then, Carter, you heard Hammond, so no trying to sneak back into you lab. Adam, can you make sure of that?" Jack asked as he pushed himself up from his seat.

"Sure thing, Jack." Adam said still looking dazed.

"There's no way I'm ready to go home just yet. How do you feel about skipping town and going to visit MacLeod for a few days?" Richie asked hoping to get away for a while.

"But, my parents are here." Louise said disappointed.

"Exactly, we could get away for a few days and hopefully by the time we get back they'd have gone." Richie grinned mischievously at her although there was a glint of hope in his eyes.

"No matter how much I wish we could do that, we can't, unfortunately. You've got to settle things with Dad." She looked at him silently saying 'sorry'.

"What's the point?" Richie sighed. "He knows I'm immortal and he thinks I'm putting you in danger with you being part of my life."

"Richie please, just talk to him. We'll explain things to him, he'll understand." No matter how many times she disagreed with her father she still hoped for his approval.

"Ok, but I'm telling you, Louise, there's going to be no way that your father is going to accept me being in your life."

"Errr, What's going on?" Jack couldn't help but ask, as his curiosity got the better of him.

"Well, it turns out Mum and Dad were starting to get worried when I didn't call home to say I was ok. They called Joe to find out if he knew where I was and now they're here. They turned up first thing this morning. Dad wasn't best pleased when he saw Richie because he's a retired Watcher, although that's all that's happened he's already made some first impression."

"Do you feel like back up when you go home?" Jack asked a glint of curiosity about Louie's parents in his eyes.

"Who you got in mind Jack." Richie asked.

"Well, as we're all on down time why don't we go pick your parents up and take them out for dinner. I think they'll feel better if they got to know the people who'll be looking out for you while you're here." His smile was mischievous but his thoughts were on protecting Louise from harm, even emotional harm.

"That sounds like a great idea, but I think you should at least give us some time to get changed into something more suitable, sir." Louise smiled glad for the back up.

"Fine then. Carter, we'll all meet at Richie and Louise's place in say…" Jack quickly glanced at his watch. "Two hours, does that give you enough time?"

"Yes, thank you sir." Sam said smiling.

"I'm not sure if me going is such a good idea. When I was there earlier he seemed to recognise me and if he realises I'm immortal it could get Joe in trouble." Adam voiced his fears.

"Hey, if I'm going to be going then you have to." Janet stated. "If he knows about Richie being immortal there's also be a chance he'll realise I'm immortal too."

"I'm sure it'll be alright, Adam. Plus, I think Richie could use some support other than me." Louise tried to reassure him as much as possible. "And, Dad's a good friend of Joes, there's no way he'll intentionally get him in trouble."

"Fine. I'll come but I'm not going to be best pleased if he finds out I'm immortal." Adam tried to put puppy dog eyes on but couldn't help the fearing the fact slightly.

"Just don't go, A: - drinking too much beer, as it shows your immortal tolerance. B: - waving your sword around and C: - searching for another immortal when you feel a buzz, let the known immortal look and then if there's any danger they'll tell you about it. I think that's going to apply to you too, Janet, until we find out if he knows about you. Apart from the beer part that is." Louise stated.

"Fine, I think I can manage that." Adam grumbled.

"Good, we're all set then, Richie and Louise's place in two hours. Let's get going before the ladies start complaining they don't have enough time to get ready." Jack dodged a playful jab from Janet.

"As I remember from when I was going out in the field with SG1, sir." Sam started. "Wasn't it you that always took the longest to get ready." Sam smirked and Jack sent her a look that would have caused anyone who didn't realise he was joking to run for the hills.

"Enough, let's get going." Jack spat out then quickly made his way to the door with Janet coming up at his side. The others let out a small laugh at Jack's slight discomfort then followed Jack and Janet's lead and exited the Briefing room.

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A/N: - Thanks for the reviews and keep them coming. Anyone interested in been a beta e-mail me and let me know as I have lots of stories to be worked on.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

Exactly two hours later Richie felt the presence of Janet and Adam. They entered the cottage with Sam and Jack in tow. Richie was sitting in the front room while Louise was in their bedroom in the final stages of getting ready. Patty and Edward had retreated to the second bedroom to get ready themselves. It seemed that it was going to be a race who would finish first.

Richie was relieved to finally have the 'backup' he so desperately wanted. "It's about time you turned up!"

"What? We're here exactly when we said we were going to be. Don't tell me you couldn't deal less than two hours with the parents from hell?" Adam laughed not noticing Edward who had just entered the room.

"Well, I see you've been spreading good things about us all around!" Edward glared at Richie who lost the entire colour from his face in a matter of seconds.

Adam could tell Richie was trying to keep his temper under raps but Edward seemed to be able to wind him up completely without much effort. Whether it was intended or not, but Adam was positive he was going to be watching Edward very closely for any signs that it was intentional.

Edward held his hand out for Adam. "Edward Robinson, we didn't have any time this morning for introductions."

"Nice to meet you." Adam took his hand and had to restrain himself from squeezing it in a show of power.

Edward then turned to the rest of the group waiting for them to introduce themselves as well.

"Colonel Jack O'Neill" Jack held out his hand letting Edward shake it.

"Major Samantha Carter, but you can call me Sam." Sam smiled while Edward nodded his head.

"Doctor Janet Fraiser." Janet tried to hide her discomfort as she smiled at Edward. She noticed though that there was some kind of recognition in his eyes that made her think he knew she was immortal, although he didn't say anything.

"Dr., nice to meet you."

Patty came into the room just then giving her husband a stern look. "I hope you're behaving yourself, Edward!"

"Of course I am dear. Let me introduce you to these nice people, Jack O'Neill, Sam Carter, Janet Fraiser and Adam Pierson who we met this morning momentarily."

"Oh yes, nice to meet you again Mr. Pierson." Patty smiled sweetly at Adam.

"Adam, please! Getting called Mr. Pierson makes me feel old." Janet made a quick retreat to the kitchen trying to hide the fact that she was having a hard time trying not to laugh at Adam's remark about feeling old.

"We ready to go then?" Louise said coming into the room and slipping her arm around Richie's waist.

"Yep all set." Richie answers feeling slightly better with her giving him some strength.

"So has anyone decided where we're going?" Louise couldn't help but smile at the thought of her friends and family getting along although she knew it was more then likely just hopeful thinking.

Sam looked at Jack with a gleam in her eyes, "do you think they'll let us back into O'Malley's?"

"Well, we haven't got the T or Daniel with us; plus, you're not in the condition to start any fights at the moment. I don't see why they shouldn't."

"You started the fight at O'Malley's?" Janet asked Sam, shocked at Jack's comment.

"No, I didn't start the fight, Daniel did. I think he got sick of being called a geek, but hey, I couldn't just sit there and let my team mates get beat up." Sam struggled off the question.

"Ok, enough about your teams and how they entertain themselves. I'm hungry, let's get going. Who's in whose cars anyway?" Richie asked as his stomach protested about being neglected.

"Well, as we've driven up here in Adam's car, it'd be easier if you and Louise take Edward and Patty in your car then at least when we're ready to call it a day there won't be too many detours."

"Ok, that sounds good. Richie, I'll drive so you at least can have a drink." Louise volunteered.

"Are you sure, Louise, I don't mind driving."

"No, its fine, come on then let's go."

During the half hour drive to O'Malley's, silence reigned, except for the occasional conversation between Louise and her mother. No matter what she'd told him about how her father and her never getting along, Richie was sure she was pretty close to her mother.

Louise was soon pulling her car up behind Adam's in the parking lot. Her parking spot gave them a good view of the inside of O'Malley's main window. They could tell it was pretty quite within, which would mean less need to shout above the noise.

Richie was glad about Louise offering to drive, as he was ready for a strong drink or four. He couldn't believe someone could do that to him just from spending a short drive with him.

Richie had noticed on several occasions during the drive that Edward kept glancing at him with a look in his eyes which clearly said 'I don't' like you and I never will'.

They all met up outside the doors to O'Malley's. They quickly entered out of the cold and were quickly seated on a table in the far corner. Sam and Jack couldn't help but notice it was the furthest point from the pool table; maybe the staff at O'Malley's wasn't so sure about having them back after all.

Talking amongst themselves Louise couldn't help but notice that Richie kept physical contact with her at all times whether it was just a hand on her thigh or taking her hand in his under the table. She could tell he was trying to be as polite as possible to her parents but she also noticed the looks her father kept throwing at him and it made anger rise within her.

Janet seemed to be just as wary as Richie of Edward, although she seemed to be at least managing to have a good time. Adam didn't seem to be one hundred percent relaxed either as she noticed how he kept taking quick glances at Edward and then at Richie easily noticing the tension between the two.

The food arrived while they were all enjoying their second drinks, which were been consumed at a social pace while pleasant conversation continued; it seemed to be a relaxing environment. When the buzz of another immortal entered the heads of the immortals, that relaxing environment suddenly turned tense. Adam and Louise managed to stop themselves from turning their heads but Janet and Richie both looked towards the door just as an immortal all but Janet knew entered.

"What's Kenver still doing in town?" Richie leaned over and whispered into Louise's ear so her parents couldn't hear what he'd said.

Louise gave him a puzzled look and pleaded to him to let Kenver know what was happening. Richie nodded at her then squeezed her hand then rose from the table and walked towards Kenver before he had a chance to reach the table.

"Hey Kenver, starting to get the feeling you don't want to leave town or something!" Richie said with a small smile.

"Is Louise Ok?" Kenver asked as he glance over Richie's shoulder to catch a glance of Louise.

"She fine, Kenver. Her parents just came into town today. That's what she wanted me to come over to tell you about."

"I know about her parents, that's why I never got on the plane. I've been trying to get hold of her all day but she's not been answering her phone."

"We've been at the base most of the day. What's wrong Kenver?" Richie asked concern creeping in to his voice.

"Her parents know about her being immortal, they already know about me being her teacher. Malcolm told them. This must be some kind of trick if they haven't let on to the fact they know about her. I don't believe we can't trust them, I've had a funny feeling about them for a while and this just confirms it."

"Wait here!" Richie said annoyance taking over the concern as he left Kenver where he stood and went back to the table, shooting deadly looks at Edward.

"Louise, can you come over here a minute? Adam can you come too?"

"Sure" Adam and Louise replied together.

Once they were back with Kenver Louise couldn't hold in her curiosity any longer. "What's going on Kenver?"

"Your parents know about you been immortal Louise. Malcolm told them about your immortality not long after you left for the states."

"What? Then why are they acting like they don't know?"

"I believe it is some kind of trick."

"Wait a minute. Yeah Dad's annoying and everything but I can't see him doing anything to endanger me and Mum you can forget about it."

"Louise, listen to me I have not only been looking out for you over the past few years because you were my student I also kept an eye on the people you care about, including your parents. When Malcolm told them about you before he headed hear to confront you they didn't react normally. They were repulsed that they'd raised a daughter that turned out to be immortal. I'm not saying this to try and hurt your feelings Louise, you know me too well to think I'd do something like that. I'm telling you this because I believe you need to know to help you and Richie survive this meeting. I can sense something is not right."

"Are you trying to tell me that my own parents would consider hurting me and Richie just because we're immortal?" Louise couldn't help but hiss.

"No I'm telling you that they'll kill the both of you because of that fact." Kenver replied calmly. "When they got off the plane they went to collect something. Something other than normal luggage, they collected a sword Louise."

"But?" Louise didn't know how to react.

"Kenver, can you take Louise and Richie back to the cottage? I'll deal with Edward and Patty then meet you all back there. I won't risk putting them in any more danger." Adam said barely managing to keep his anger in track and Richie raised his eyebrow at the fact Adam was willing to trust Kenver.

"What about Janet?" Louise asked in concern.

"She hasn't lived this long without being able to look after herself, plus I don't think they'll try anything with us being in public I just don't want to take the chance with you two."

"Ok" Louise barely whispered in defeat then turned and let Kenver lead her to the door with Richie right behind them.

Adam turned back around to face the table and noticed the entire group we're looking in his direction. He let out a breath trying to alleviate some of the anger so he wouldn't do anything he'd regret later, or anything anyone else would regret later then made his way back over to the table.

"What's going on Adam? Where are Louise and Richie going?" Jack asked as Adam arrived back at the table.

"Kenver is taking them home. We've got to go and meet them because something's come up." Adam couldn't bring himself to look at Patty or Edward as he was trying to stop the already existing anger from boiling to the point of no return.

"Well let's get going then." Edwards said rising to his feet and was almost instantly pushed back down into the seat.

"You two are going nowhere with us and if I were you I'd get out of town before tonight's over with!" Adam's head snapped round and the look on his face showed that he was deadly serious.

"What the hell are you talking about? You've just let my daughter walk off with two immortals and now you're telling me to get out of town. What's going on?" Adam could tell that Edward was becoming irrational as any watcher would never talk about immortals in public let alone with a group of people he didn't realise knew about immortal.

"Don't pull the dumb act on me because I'm not buying it." Adam hissed standing dead in front of Edward only inches from his face. "Get out of town before I do something I may not regret."

With that Adam swiftly turned and walked towards the exit. Jack, Janet and Sam looked stunned for a second or two before they followed him out in silence. Their minds processing what had just happened with both Edward and Adam and the way Adam had instantly changed from Adam mild mannered man to Methos, Death of the Four Horsemen, although Janet wasn't as surprised as the others it still shook her slight and sent her mind reeling back to the past.

Patty sat while Edward stood and watched the group walk away wondering how it was possible they could've found out. Edward shivered involuntarily at the memory of the look of death in Adam's eyes and wondered how someone who had been part of the watcher and must understand what he and Patty were going through could posses that much anger against them.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen**

As soon as all the doors were shut and the car had pulled away from O'Malley's parking lot Jack looked over at Adam who had not yet told anybody what had happened. "So you going tell us what happened back there?"

When Adam didn't respond Jack looked over at Janet who was seated in the back with him giving her a 'have you any idea what's going on?' look. Janet shook her head and turned back towards Adam while thinking back to the last time she saw him like this. If she was truly honest with herself she didn't think she had ever seen him this angry before.

Back in his Horsemen days, Adam was always in control of his emotions and never let anything show of his feelings at the time. There was always a cool calm aura that surrounded him as he went about his days planning everything down to the smallest of details. It was that control persona that made him so feared by so many. Yet she was finding it difficult to believe that he was still in control of thinking things out like he undeniably was even though it was obviously that he consumed by anger and that made him all the more frightening.

"Adam, please tell us what's happening!" Sam tried pleading with him. The sound of her soothing voice seemed to drag him out of his thought.

"They knew about Louise being immortal all along." He managed to say that without snapping at her.

"What's the matter with that? That shouldn't affect anything, they're still her parents." Sam was confused now, she couldn't understand that the fact Louise was immortal could be a bad thing.

"Yeah, parents who apparently were sickened when they found out. Parents who just happened to come see their immortal daughter while carrying a sword with them. Hell, you saw their reaction towards Richie. The fact that he's with Louise is enough to start world war three or maybe Richie being there was just an inconvenience."

"What do you mean inconvenience?" Now Jack was confused.

"Think about it. When immortals kill one another there's a Quickening. If Edward and Patty continue with their plan with Richie there, whoever they killed last would get the quickening of the one that died first, obviously alerting them to something going on. It would be easy enough to kill a sleeping immortal but hard to kill an awake immortal without knowing how to use a sword even after a quickening." Adam tried to explain as simply as possible.

"Ok then, how did Kenver find out that they knew?" Sam asked as worry started to seep under her skin.

"Kenver's very protective of Louise and he not only kept an eye out for her but he was also looked out for people she cared about included her parents. Anyway he found out Malcolm approached them informing them about Louise's immortality they've been appalled ever since. When he saw them at the airport he had a feeling something was up. He followed them and saw them collect a sword which confirmed it for him."

"So why, if they're so appalled, have they just suddenly turned up in town to visit their daughter?" Jack was putting things together in his head and he tried to hold back the anger what he was now feeling, finally understanding why Adam had been so angry earlier.

"Exactly!" Adam was glad they were seemed to be seeing things the way he was.

"You think they would kill her just because she's immortal?" Sam was still finding it a stretch that they would rather their daughter be dead then remain alive as an immortal.

"That's Kenver's opinion and I have to say I agree in part. I can see Edward doing that without a second thought. I've heard some stories of renegade watchers and this would be something they would do. Patty though is another matter I'm not sure she's entirely comfortable with this idea, maybe she'd going along with it because Edward persuaded it was for the best some way or other. Then finding out that she's seeing Richie it would have only increased Edwards revulsion and possibly Patty finally started seeing things from Edward's point of view, I can't be sure."

"That's why you had Kenver get them home as soon as you found out?" Sam asked rhetorically.

"Yeah!" Adam answered anyway. "And that's why we're heading there now to meet up with them. I'm not leaving Louise and Richie alone until I know for sure that Edward and Patty have left the country."

The car drifted once again into silence as the members of the SGC thought about the possibility of losing people they've come to care about in only a short amount of time and Adam continued to think of plans to stop Edward and Patty.

Jack shivered, chilled to the bone at the thought of losing another child this time before he even had the changed to really get to know her. Janet looked over at Jack when she felt him shudder; understanding what he must be thinking and couldn't help the deep sorrow she felt for him. Taking his hand in hers she squeezed it reassuringly then leaned into him trying to give him as much comfort as he needed.

The car had barely pulled up in front of the cottage before Louise jumped out and was heading inside and straight to the room she had allowed her parents to stay in. She could feel the tears welling up but she pushed them away refusing to let them win.

Throwing open the bedroom door she went straight to the corner where all their luggage was piled up. Pushing a suitcase full of clothes out of the way with far more force than she realised; her eyes landed on a long thin case, which had been hidden behind the others.

With shaking hands she reached for the case and lifted it onto the bed shivering at the feel of the leather under her skin. Richie was just entering the room as she released the latches and lifted the lid off the case revealing a beautiful Celtic sword lying on a soft pillow of red silk. The handle was crafted in the design of a man, done in a bronze coloured metal that glinted slightly gold when the light caught it the right way. The blade was shining like it had been well looked after for years, she also knew that if she felt the edge she would find it razor sharp.

"They were truly going to kill me, weren't they?" Louise asked Richie without turning around to face him. She felt the warmth of a few tears starting to well in her eyes and then felt them start their slow descent down her face.

"We don't know that for sure!" Richie tried to comfort her although deep down he knew what she said was true and the thought made him shiver all the way to his soul.

"But it's very likely. I knew my Dad was a Watcher and everything, but I also knew he despised them. 'Us'. I can just imagine what he must have thought when he found out his own daughter was one. He'd want me to know that I'd never be welcome in their little family again, that's why I never told them. No matter how I disagreed with him he was still my father and I didn't want to be rejected."

"Louise, if that's how you knew he'd feel why are you so shocked about the way he's reacted?"

"I'm not shocked about the way Dad reacted. Well, I am a bit; I thought he would disown me, not try to kill me! I'm more shocked about the way Mum's reacted. I always thought she'd understand when she finally found out. That she would be the voice of reason. It never even crossed my mind that she'd feel the same way as Dad. She seemed so understanding of how immortals felt and lived. The battles they had to go through and I'm not just talking about sword fighting, I'm talking about having to up and leave there friends before been discovered that they weren't ageing, how they had to give everything up and start anew where nobody knew them. I know it's funny but that's one thing that reassured me when I became immortal. I know she was going to be there to understand what I was going through when I finally told them about my immortality. I even hoped that she would be able to persuade Dad when the truth came out but I guess I was wrong."

Richie moved further into the room and knelt down beside her and pulled her into his arms while her tears overwhelmed her and her body shook from the sobs.

Richie looked up as he felt the presence of another immortal. He heard a sound coming from the doorway and found a concerned looking Adam watching them. He nodded towards the sword that was still laying in the open sword case on the bed hoping he'd understand and give them a few minutes.

Adam nodded and left the room closing the door behind him and walked back down the corridor returning to where the others had congregated in the living room.

"How are they?" Sam asked concerned seeing the pained look in Adam's eyes.

"Louise found the sword and she's devastated. Richie looks like he's holding it together for her, but there's anger bubbling under the surface. I can see it as plain as day in his eyes."

"I'm not surprised! I just can't believe they would do this to their own daughter even if they dislike immortals. Surely they know their own daughter enough to know she's no danger to them." Sam shook her head and put a hand on her bump knowing deep down she would never be able to do any harm to the baby no matter what. She would rather die herself.

"I know, Sam." Adam said coming up to her and pulling her into a hug feeling relief flood him when the baby kicked. He was thankful that Kenver had spotted Edward and Patty at the airport and had managed to stop them before they could do any harm. "I've no idea how they could do this to her!"

Finally they took seats on the sofa's and waited in long silence before finally hearing the squeak of the bedroom door been opened. Louise and Richie came into the living room, Louise now clutching the sword in a strong grip that was making her hand turn white from the pressure she was applying.

"Louise, are you alright?" Sam said getting up from where she'd been seated next to Adam to rush over to her side.

"I'm fine, Sam. It's just…well, I've decided I can't do anything about the way they reacted so from now on I've only got one set of parents and it's not them. It's you and Jack. If you will have me?" Louise stated in a tone that said she was one hundred percent sure about that.

"There's no need to ask that Louise. Sam and I will always be here for you no matter what." Jack said as he tried to hold back the lump that was making it's way to his throat.

"Oh, Louise!" Sam moved forward taking Louise into her arms; comforting her as much as she could. She couldn't help but feel like her insides wanted to swell with pride but at the same time the sadness she felt for Louise almost tore her apart. "Don't ever worry about that. Like Jack said there will always be someone here for you, no matter what."

"Janet? Could you take Sam home with you tonight? I don't want her to be alone and I know she'll be safe with you." Adam asked as he took the sword from Louise just in case she slipped with it while hugging Sam however unlikely that was to happen.

"Yeah, sure, Adam that's no problem." Janet replied without hesitation understanding what Adam was thinking.

"Good. Here's the key to the car. I'll get Richie to give me a lift in the morning if nothing happens tonight so I can collect some stuff from home. No doubt Kenver will be staying as well."

"That's correct. I don't plan on letting Louise out of my sight until I know those two have left for home!" Kenver confirmed from where he was still seated.

"Ok then. That's all agreed."

They all said their good nights then Jack, Janet and Sam walked out to the car under the watchful eyes of Adam, Kenver, Louise and Richie.

Once the car had pulled out of the drive and was on its way down the road they all went back inside and Adam and Kenver went around the cottage checking to make sure all the doors and windows were secured.

Once they we're finished they joined Richie and Louise back into the front room. "How are you two holding up? With all you've been put though in the past few days' I'm surprised you're holding up as well as you seem to be." Adam asked.

"We're okay, really Adam. I think I've managed to work my way through most of it in my head." Richie said still holding tightly to Louise.

Adam nodded then noticed how tired both of them were starting to look. "Why don't you two go have an early night? It looks like you could use it!"

"Yeah, I think you could be right there." Louise said as she got to her feet and pulled Richie up having to almost have to drag him off to bed shouting night before the door closed behind them.

Louise lay curled up to Richie thinking about all the things they'd been through and all the things they'd been told over the past few days. Richie's voice caught her off guard when he spoke and it almost made her jump.

"Louise what do you think about what Thor suggested?"

"I'm not sure Richie." She replied grateful that he was thinking about something other then her parents. "What's your opinion?"

"Being completely honest with you, I like the idea. I remember this one time an ex girlfriend told me her kid was mine and I let myself believe for a time even after Mac told me it wasn't possible. I liked the idea of being a father. I liked the idea of having someone who'd look up to me, someone I'd be able to do the father son things with."

"I can only imagine how that felt. If I was to guess, I'd say I'd feel the same. Hell, when I found out I was immortal and couldn't have children, I was devastated. It's one thing that I've always wanted but I'm still not sure, after everything that's happened today with 'them' I have to admit that our lived are really dangerous. I don't know if I would be able to raise a kid in such a dangerous environment."

"Louise can I tell you something?"

Louise lifted her head off Richie's chest looking him in the eye; she just had a feeling that whatever he was about to say was something she'd want to look into his eyes while he said it.

"You know you can tell me anything, Richie."

"Louise, I've never felt like this before. Yeah, I've felt like I was in love before but never have the feelings been this intense. Every time I see you upset, I feel like my insides are being ripped out, when I see you happy it makes me happy as well no matter what I was feeling before. I don't know if I could be able to live without you."

"You…?" Louise couldn't finish the sentence as tears of hope and happiness started to escape her eyes.

"Yes, Louise. I love you and I've never felt this way before."

"Oh God! Richie I love you too." Louise said just before taking his mouth with hers and giving him a deep and passionate kiss.

Pulling away and looking deeply into his eyes she asked "So you really want to have a child with me?"

"God, I just want to be with you, but this. This is a chance we both thought we'd never get and yes, I want to have a child and I want you to be a part of that. I'm willing to put my life on the line for you and the kid."

Smiling back at him she once again leaned down and gave him a passionate kiss and pulled away once again. "Then I think we better go to the SGC in the morning so Hammond can contact Thor." She grinned not believing that she could ever feel this happy before.

"God, I can't believe this is actually happening!"

The mood was crushed as there was a sound of breaking glass and a crash coming from the front room making both of them jump out of bed grabbing their swords in one swift movement before rushing to see what the disturbance was.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen**

When Louise and Richie entered the front room they came face to face with Adam and Kenver lying in pools of blood on the floor with gunshot wounds to their chests. The look of death in there eyes told them without checking that they weren't going to be any help to them until they had a chance to revive.

Keeping Louise behind him Richie scanned the room looking for whoever had inflicted the temporary deaths of their friends. Shadows moved at the far end of the room and suddenly a gunshot rung out instantly followed by a burning sensation ripping through his chest.

Feeling his breath leave him as his drifted in to unconsciousness, the last thing Richie felt before he was overcome by his own temporary death was Louise's arm which came around him as he fell to the floor. He realised at the moment of death that he was going to be trapping Louise underneath him which would stop her from defending herself.

Under the weight of Richie's lifeless body Louise fell with him and like Richie last thoughts she was trapped under his dead weight. As she shook off the shock of what was happening Louise looked around the room noticing a figure emerging from the shadows, a gun in one hand and the Celtic sword, which Louise had found earlier that night in the other hand.

"Well. Well. Well. What have we here a scared little immortal? You know I thought I raised you to have more in you than that."

"Why are you doing this? What have I ever done to deserve this?" Louise couldn't help but asked as she struggled to get Richie off of her.

"You lied to me for your entire life. You pretended to be normal when you were hiding the fact you were really immortal. You played me and Patty for fools when all we ever wanted to do was offer you a family and love." Edward spat at her as anger and disappointment burnt within his eyes.

"I DIDN'T KNOW I WAS IMMORTAL. How could I have?" Louise was at the point of a break down and tears fell freely down her face as her body shook with the force of the sobs. "I didn't know I was immortal until I died, until Kenver explained to me what I was. Taught me how to defend myself, God I didn't know what I'd do when I found out. Yeah I knew about immortals but I never knew I was one. You've got to believe me."

"Why should I believe you? You lied to me for most of your life why should I believe you now?" Edward didn't wait for a response as he raised the gun at Louise and shot her in the head.

Edward looked down at the person he had once called his daughter, all the thoughts of dishonesty Louise had shown towards him ripping through his heart like nothing else. He couldn't stand the thought of her being part of his family anymore, to call her daughter was not an option any longer. He raised the sword above his head calling all the strength within him he sent the sword down to make the final blow to his once daughter's life.

A sharp pain ran through him, which started at his back and worked its way all the way to his front pushing in forward. Instantaneously the sword hit the floor to the left of Louise's throat sending ripples up his arms from the impact and in turn shooting pains shot throughout is body. Looking down at his chest he saw a blood stained blade protruding from his chest.

Dropping both the gun and sword as the blade was removed Edward placed his hands on the bloody hole trying and failing from stop his blood from escaping.

Turning around to look at the person who'd done this to him he came face to face with a gold-eyes Adam. The look of pure anger on his face made Edward believe it was in fact the face of death he had seen at O'Malley's.

"But? But you were dead?" Edward managed to say as his throat and mouth started to fill with blood as his body started to numb itself off.

"What can I say. I'm a hard man to kill." Adam sneered at him as he pushed him against a wall away from where his gun and sword he had dropped.

"You're one of them? Immortal? But you're a watcher?" Edward didn't know where he was getting the strength to ask questions from as his body started to close itself down.

"'Was' a watcher, I'm not anymore, remember? And as for being immortal, yes, I am."

Edward couldn't respond as he found all the strength he had now left his body. The realisation that he was dying sank in. He'd failed to respond to Adam's comment as he closed his eyes for the final time.

Adam watched as the man died in front of him. Still holding him up against the wall as he fell limp against his hold, once he was sure there was no danger with letting him go he released his hold on him letting him drop boneless to the floor with a thud.

A gasp of breath caught his attention from across the room and he turned just in time to see Kenver rising from the floor his legs still unsteady.

"Are you ok?" Adam asked him as he saw him sway.

"I'll live. Let's get those two somewhere more comfortable so they don't wake up with a crick in their necks."

Nodding Adam turned and gently picked up Louise and walked towards one of the sofas with her body cushioned against his. He placed her gently onto the sofa while Kenver did the same for Richie.

A sigh of relief left Adam as he leaned back into his chair it was over.

Ten Day's Later

Hammond, Louise, Richie, Jack, Sam, Adam and Janet were all seated around the briefing room table once again waiting for Thor to arrive.

A flash of light indicated Thor's arrival and everyone looked over to greet Thor.

"So, Thor, what's the news?" Adam asked as he felt like the suspense would kill him.  
"The procedure was a success, Louise has been successfully implanted with a child. There doesn't seem to be any sign of her body rejecting it so I believe that the 'pregnancy' will continue at a normal rate."

"So there's no problem then?" Louise looked nervously towards Thor hanging onto his every word.

"None that we have been able to find. Mani will be continuing to stay in orbit and I have informed him that he must monitor your status throughout the whole pregnancy, which he agrees to be prudent. He will also watch over the child for some time after it has been born. If there are any problems he will beam you and the child to the research ship straight away."

"That's good to know." Louise turned and couldn't help the smile that spread across her face as she saw a matching smile on Richie's.

"If that is all, General Hammond, I must be getting back to my ship, the Replicators are once again attempting to attack one of our major home worlds."

"That's fine, Thor. There's nothing else." General Hammond said as a small smile appeared on him face happy for his friends.

"Errr, General there was something else I wished to discuss." Jack jumped in before Thor could disappear in a flash of light.

"Go ahead Colonel." General Hammond sighed internally having a feeling what this would be about.

"Thor with all this talk about Loki's creations being immortals it's got me wondering. Is mini me an immortal?" Jack asked bluntly and Richie looked over at Jack with a puzzled look on his face.

"I have no information on whether your clone is immortal at this point in time O'Neill. If you wish it I will have Mani run some scans to find out."

"I think that's for the best Thor. I can tell you if it was me out there I'd want to know if I was going to have to face the thing immortal's have to face."

"Very well. I will have Mani scan your clone and transmit the results to Doctor Fraiser. I have instructed her on what parts of the genetics are the Asgard genetic markers. Although I believe the only way to truly find out if your clone is immortal would be to have another immortal be within close proximity to him. I have observed all the immortals during the time I have been in contact with Earth over the past few days and believe they are able to sense of another immortal's presence when in close proximity."

"But, Thor, Janet did all the tests on him." Suddenly it hit him that if there were anyone who would know if his clone was immortal or not it would be Janet. "Janet?"

Janet knew ever since finding out that Loki was the creator or immortals Jack was going to ask this question at some point.

She knew she was going to have to answer it truthfully and to be honest she could see Jack's point of view for wanting to know. Jonathan would require some training; he'd need someone to tell him how to adapt to his immortality.

"Yes. Jonathan has the potential to become immortal, but sir. I think it would be best if we don't inform him about this situation until we have no other choice in the matter. He's already lived a weird enough life as it is. I think it would be best to let him live as much a normal life as possible until he can no longer. He may not even die a tragic death at all so he may get the chance to live out his life unaffected."

"Doc, did you hear yourself there? He's me. As soon as he re-finishes high school he's going to join back up with the Air Force. No doubt, he'll get transferred back here where he'll be out there fighting the good fight. Of course he's going to die a violent death. Hell, the only reason I haven't is mostly to do with having a good team behind me and lots of dumb luck."

"Colonel, I'll leave the decision up to you whether to tell your clone about this situation. Let's get back to work, people. Dismissed." Hammond stood from the briefing room table before anyone could reply and walked out of the room.

Moment's later Thor disappeared in a flash of light and everyone rose from their seats at the table. "Louise, if you would be so kind to show our guests to the surface I would appreciate that." Jack said indicating Richie and Adam then turned his attention back to Janet. "Doctor, I'd like to discuss this matter more with you so would you like to come with me and grab something to eat while we discuss it."

"That would be fine." Janet said guiltily.

"Then let's go eat." Jack turned and left the room with Janet following him closely.

Sam said her goodbyes to Adam and Richie, wishing Adam good luck as well as he had a job interview later on that today then turned and left the briefing room.

"So, I'm going to be a granddad. That's something I never thought I hear myself say." Adam said as Louise led the way back to the surface.

"You think that's weird. Louise is going to have a brother or sister through Sam and I'm going to have a brother or sister through you. Then if you really want to get technical we're going to be step brother and sister when you and Sam get married."

"God, I never though about it like that." Adam realised with shock then couldn't help but laugh.

"What's so funny, old timer?" Richie couldn't help but laugh himself.

"Nothing really. But, who would have ever thought immortals would have a family triangle like this." The laughter suddenly died from Adam's eyes as he thought about another issue that he needed to discuss. "Louise, there's something I wanted to discuss with you."

"What's up, Adam?" Louise replied curiously noticing the seriousness in his voice.

"It's Patty."

Louise's face paled slightly and then hardened. "What about her?"

"She's been in contact with Joe asking if he would pass this on to you." Adam's hand dug into his pocket and he pulled out an envelope and handed it to Louise.

"Thanks but I don't think I'm going to be reading this any time soon." Louise suddenly got the temptation to throw the letter in the closest rubbish bin.

"Louise, she didn't know Edward was going to kill you. At least not until the night at O'Malley's and when she found out and tried to stop Edward, he knocked out. She woke up the next morning in hospital and knew it was going to be too late for either you or Edward so the only thing she could think of doing was to go home and wait. When Edward didn't show up after a few days she assumed the worst and contacted Joe. I've checked out her story, Louise, and she's telling the truth. Maybe you should think about reading that letter? Find out what she has to say for herself." Adam knew deep down how Louise was feeling after the betrayal of her father but knew that if her mother was telling the truth then she should be at least given the chance to explain herself.

"I'll think about it, Adam, but that's still all I can promise at the moment."

"That's all I ask." With that the elevator arrived and the three of them boarded in silence.

The End

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A/N: - Well that's it end of Secrets 3. Good thing for you is that my beta said there were unfinished issues so i've started Secrets 4.

Let me know what you think of this story. Reviews always welcome.


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